Leclerc: Ferrari’s gap to the front “too much” after poor Zandvoort qualifying

Charles Leclerc has declared his 0.909s gap to Lando Norris’s Formula 1 Dutch Grand Prix pole lap time for McLaren was “too much” for Ferrari.

The Scuderia, which has slipped behind Mercedes and McLaren in the battle to get on terms with Red Bull since Leclerc commandingly won at Monaco in May, has endured a tricky Zandvoort weekend so far.

Carlos Sainz missed much of FP2 due to a gearbox issue and with the wet FP1 and FP3 sessions he had to go into qualifying without any preparation on the soft compound tyres.

He was then knocked out of qualifying in 12th, while Leclerc could only manage sixth and had to face up to a big deficit to Norris up front.

When asked by Autosport if this represented the reality for Ferrari right now, Leclerc replied: “Unfortunately, it is. The lap was good and we are nine tenths off, unfortunately, on such a short track.

“It's a lot, it's too much.

Charles Leclerc, Ferrari SF-24

Photo by: Andrew Ferraro / Motorsport Images

“But yeah, as a team, we are aware of that we are lacking performance. We are working flat out.

“Unfortunately, I repeated myself too much in the last few months, but that's the reality we are in at the moment, and we are doing absolutely everything to close that gap as soon as possible.

“Hopefully the upgrades that we'll bring in the car, hopefully as soon as possible, will help us to close the gap.”

But Leclerc was at least hopeful Zandvoort’s high-downforce nature meant Ferrari’s struggles might be track specific.

“There's a roadmap [for recovery],” he explained. “When I see a gap like today, nine tenths, it's a lot, and I'm not so sure we have that until the end of the season, but let's wait and see.

“I also think that a track like this doesn't fit our car, and the gap is probably bigger than what we'll see on other tracks with the same car.

“So today, we have struggled particularly, but I hope that from Monza onwards [Ferrari’s home race is coming next week], we'll be in a better place.”