Saudi Arabian Grand Prix: Lewis Hamilton describes his race as ‘horrible’

Leclerc, in contrast, drove an impressive race with an extended first stint on the medium tyres to catch and move Mercedes’ George Russell for the ultimate podium place.

He stated: “I really feel like we have maximised completely the whole lot we may have this weekend. There wasn’t something extra within the automotive.

“We have to deal with qualifying as a result of it has been a really very long time I have never been as proud of the automotive steadiness.

“I really feel very comfy with the automotive in a manner that I do know I can extract the utmost out of the automotive most of the time, however sadly, the automotive potential is simply not ok to struggle for higher in qualifying.”

Ferrari simply missed out on profitable the constructors’ championship final 12 months and began this season hoping to compete for the title.

However McLaren and Purple Bull have progressed greater than the Italian workforce over the winter.

Leclerc stated: “We’re shut on the race tempo. Free air dictates a bit of bit who’s going to win the race. That is all the time been the case. Possibly this 12 months a bit of bit greater than different years. And clearly when that’s the case, qualifying is extra essential.

“However sadly, for 2 years, we’re simply struggling in qualifying to place the whole lot collectively.

“The issue is it is not all the time the identical subject. This time it was 4 tenths within the first three corners. For the remainder of the lap, we have been quick. And now right this moment within the race, truly, the primary sector was most likely the most effective sector we had.

“So we have got to take a look at that. Clearly, there are solutions in what we’re doing, and we’re doing one thing incorrect, clearly. We have to search out it.

“We can’t lose too many races earlier than discovering it as a result of we’re already 50 factors down within the drivers’ championship.

“We’re not taking a look at it an excessive amount of, however 50 factors is a giant quantity. I do not need to be dropping extra factors than that within the subsequent few races.”