Charles Leclerc makes his feelings known about Ferrari’s qualifying pace against top-2 of Lando Norris and Max Verstappen in Austin

Charles Leclerc acknowledged that Ferrari lacked the pace to challenge Max Verstappen and Lando Norris during the qualifying session ahead of the 2024 US Grand Prix. Speaking to media, including Sportskeeda, the Monegasque driver admitted that neither he nor his teammate, Carlos Sainz, had the performance necessary to secure pole position.

Charles Leclerc qualified fourth, just behind Carlos Sainz, but was unable to improve his lap time due to George Russell’s crash in the final moments of the session. The incident disrupted many drivers’ attempts to better their lap times. In sprint qualifying, he secured third place, but in the sprint race, he finished fourth, while Sainz claimed second.

Leclerc felt that without Russell’s crash, there was room to improve his lap, but he also pointed out that Ferrari’s car was not on par with McLaren and Red Bull in terms of pace. The 26-year-old highlighted that the first sector of the Circuit of the Americas was particularly challenging for Ferrari, and despite various setup changes, the team couldn’t find a solution to improve performance in that section. Nonetheless, Leclerc believed that finishing third and fourth was the best possible outcome for Ferrari.

Looking ahead to the race, Leclerc expressed optimism, noting that the issues they encountered in the first sector during qualifying were less problematic in race trim. This gave him hope that Ferrari could perform better during the Grand Prix itself.

Asked by Sportskeeda if he could have improved in the qualifying session if it were not for Russell’s crash, Charles Leclerc said:

“Improve, yes, but honestly it wouldn't have changed a lot. It would have been either P3 or P4 and with Carlos it would have been closer in the last sector. But it doesn't change anything for the team. None of us were capable of going to fight with the top two. They were too fast but that’s also what we expected as a team. The first sector in qualifying yesterday and today, we knew we have a limitation in our car at the moment and none of the setup options we thought of would cure that issue. But in the race we have a lot less that issue and so that's why I'm a bit more optimistic for tomorrow's race.”

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Charles Leclerc feels that the USGP race will be an outlier for the progress made by Ferrari

Charles Leclerc had mentioned to media, including Sportskeeda, ahead of the weekend that the Circuit of the Americas would serve as a litmus test for Ferrari’s car upgrades brought earlier in the season at Baku and Singapore. After two days of track running, the Ferrari driver felt that while they had made some progress, the race would provide a clearer picture of their actual pace.

Leclerc highlighted that the Austin circuit, with its more traditional layout, offered a more comprehensive challenge for evaluating Ferrari’s improvements compared to the last two race tracks, which were street circuits with unique characteristics. He remained optimistic that the true extent of their progress would become evident during the race itself.

Asked by Sportskeeda if he had a better understanding of their upgrades and progress made in terms of car performance, Charles Leclerc replied:

“I think we did, if I assess what we see and what we feel from the beginning of the weekend. But tomorrow is the real test, obviously, with the whole race. But if we see a similar pace this morning, tomorrow in the race, I think we did a step forward for sure. Because it’s normally quite a good track to look at all characteristics of a car.”

So far, Ferrari has established itself as the third-fastest team on the grid during both the sprint and qualifying sessions at the US Grand Prix. However, they still miss a few crucial tenths of lap time to challenge McLaren and Red Bull. Despite the improvements made through their recent upgrades, Ferrari remains just short of the top pace.

The Italian team holds third place in the constructors’ championship, trailing Red Bull Racing by 34 points. Charles Leclerc also finds himself third in the drivers’ standings, with a 34-point gap to second-place Lando Norris. With several race weekends left, Ferrari is still in contention, but they will need to maximize their performance to close the gap on their rivals.