Leclerc: We are coming back to reality

So said Leclerc, who was 0.030s shy of his teammate Carlos Sainz and will line up P5 on the Sprint Race grid on Saturday on a night that Ferrari's 2024 F1 Constructors' world title rivals McLaren out Qualified them with both their cars, with Lando Norris starting from pole.

In the TV pen after Qualifying, Leclerc said: "We gave it our all and are only P4 and P5, which is not great considering how important this weekend is. Let's say, for whatever reason, FP1 was a lot above out expectations. This I will say is in line with what we expected. We are coming back to reality.

"Obviously after FP1 there were hopes we could do something better but we didn't. For now, the most representative session is qualifying. We are not in the best position. You never know. It's always different in the races," ventured Leclerc.

Racing his second last weekend as a Ferrari driver before he departs for Williams, Sainz, who will line up P4, reported: "The good news is that the car was feeling better in terms of balance than expected, and the timesheets were reflecting that.

"We went into qualifying that our rivals could still be quick around here, and that’s what we say. Anyway, we didn’t maximise our package. Even though the lap was clean there was a lot of understeer in the car, and I just couldn’t turn the car basically for the whole lap.

"It was also tough because it was my only chance to put a lap, so I couldn’t risk it too much with track limits. I think tomorrow we have the potential to improve a lot the car, especially on the soft tyre, and that will mean that we can hopefully make some steps forward," added Sainz.

Ferrari are seeking the first F1 world championship title since Kimi Raikkonen and Felipe Massa won for them back in 2008. They trail McLaren by 24 points with tomorrow's Sprint Race and Sunday's Grand Prix in Qatar, plus the 2024 F1 finale next weekend in Abu Dhabi.