Angry Leclerc "really not happy" with his Ferrari and its updates after P4 in qualifying in Jeddah

09:06, 20 Apr

byOlly Darcy

A "disappointed" and upset Charles Leclerc said he was "really not happy" with his P4 in qualifying at the Saudi Arabian Grand Prix, expecting more from his newly updated car.

It's been a hugely disappointing start for the Monegasque driver and his team, unable to find the pace that McLaren have at the front of the grid, keeping them well behind and seeing them struggle to challenge for the podium.

A double disqualification at the Chinese Grand Prix rocked the Scuderia, meaning after four Grands Prix, they sit on 57 points in the constructors' championship, 94 points behind McLaren in P1, with Leclerc tallying 32 of those 57 points.

Leclerc admits Ferrari's performance "is not there"

At the Bahrain Grand Prix last weekend, a plethora of updates were brought in by Ferrari to try and improve the SF-25, but they still missed out on the podium, with Leclerc taking P4 ahead of teammate Lewis Hamilton in P5.

In Jeddah, fourth is all the 27-year-old could muster around the high-speed street circuit, with the updates made still not allowing the Ferrari to challenge for pole position, which angered Leclerc.

"I'm not happy, I'm really not happy," the Monegasque driver said in the paddock, speaking to several media sources, including GPblog.

"I mean, finishing P4 in a quali where the lap is really good, I think I put everything out there, but for now, the performance of the car is just not there. I mean, I either have massive understeer or massive oversteer, but the end result is that I don't have enough grip to reproduce what the guys in front do.

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"So yeah, at the moment, I feel good in the car. I think I found the sweet spot of the car that matched my driving style. I feel like in the last three qualifying sessions, I managed to maximise the potential of the car, but the potential is just not yet at the level where I want it to be," continued Leclerc.

The main reason for the Ferrari drivers' disappointment is due to the fact that the multiple updates and changes made to the SF-25 have yet to register any real change on the grid for the Scuderia.

"Stunned is maybe not the right word. I think it's the gap that we've seen since the beginning of the season. However, I'm a bit disappointed here because we had, I think, a few upgrades that should have helped for here, and the gap seems to be pretty similar to before."

"The updates are working, but unfortunately, I feel like the others have done as much of a step, which means that the gap hasn't really changed," concluded Leclerc.