“Back to reality” - Charles Leclerc reacts to blow to Ferrari’s constructors’ title hopes

Charles Leclerc conceded it was “back to reality” for Ferrari after a decisive blow in the race for the F1 constructors’ title at the Qatar Grand Prix.

Heading into sprint qualifying, Ferrari looked like they were in a good place to challenge for pole position.

Leclerc set an impressive pace in FP1 ahead of the two McLarens, while teammate Carlos Sainz was in fourth.

However, their challenge for pole faltered, with McLaren having the upper hand in Qatar.

Lando Norris secured pole ahead of Mercedes’ George Russell, while Leclerc was forced to settle for fifth on the grid.

Reflecting on qualifying, Leclerc admitted it was “back to reality” after FP1.

“Well not good because when you give it all obviously and we’re only I think P4 and P5 it’s not great considering how important this weekend is for us,” Leclerc said.

“Let’s say that for whatever reason FP1 was a lot above our expectations. This I would say is in line with what we expected. We’re coming back to reality.

“Obviously after FP1 there were hopes that we could do something better but we didn’t.”

Assessing Ferrari’s chances in the sprint, he said: “If we look at FP1, clearly, yes. If we look at qualifying, no. For now, the most representative is qualifying. We are not in the best position but we never know. It’s always different on race day.”

Sainz left to rue severe understeer

On the other side of the Ferrari garage, Sainz secured his best sprint qualifying result of the season.

He will start Saturday’s shorter race from fourth on the grid.

However, it wasn’t plain-sailing for Sainz, who suffered from understeer throughout the session.

“Yeah, unfortunately, we were in a situation where I went into sector 1 and sector 2 with Max in front and he was preparing his tyres, so I had quite a bit of dirty air following him around,” Sainz explained.

“On top of that, the car balance was just off. We picked up a lot of understeer from the medium tyre, which meant we were just simply struggling to turn the car.

“Then I needed to cool the tyres for a couple of laps, and when I went again, the understeering balance was still there, but I needed to put a lap in and that was enough for before.

“It was not easy under pressure, but also with that balance, understeering off the track was quite easy into a track limit, but we got it done. And yeah, we just know what we need to improve for tomorrow.”