Charles Leclerc admits Ferrari ‘P-nowhere’ after horror qualifying

Charles Leclerc says Ferrari are “P-nowhere” after suffering a disaster in qualifying at the F1 Emilia Romagna Grand Prix.

Leclerc and teammate Lewis Hamilton were shockingly knocked out in Q2 in 11th and 12th as Ferrari endured a nightmare result on home soil and their worst qualifying performance at Imola.

Ferrari faced huge pressure coming into their first home race of the season after making a lacklustre start to the campaign, and despite bringing an upgrade to their SF-25, the team’s struggles continued as they slumped to an embarrassing double Q2 elimination.

Leclerc was heard repeating the phrase “my god” several times over team radio when he was informed that he had been dumped out of Q2.

Reflecting on whether he could have produced a better lap, the frustrated Monegasque said: “I don’t think so. I mean you can always do a little bit more with a lap and improve quite a few things.

“We are just P-nowhere at the moment. There’s not enough performance in the car and I keep repeating myself.

“There’s just not the potential that we would hope for inside this car at the moment. We need to be better.

“Very, very hard. I can fight as much as I want but at the moment I cannot do miracles. This is what there is in the car and I am trying to extract the maximum out of it. That’s it.”

Leclerc’s teammate Hamilton said he was “devastated” by the result, which left Ferrari’s famous Tifosi fans, who flocked to Imola in vast numbers, silenced in disappointment.

“It was a tough one,” the seven-time world champion said. “Ultimately, I feel super gutted, devastated that we weren’t able to get through.

“I really feel like we’ve made so many positive steps through the weekend. The car was generally feeling better. The brakes was better today. The balance was really nice and in Q2, run one, it felt decent.

“When we put the new tyres on, for some reason we just didn’t have any more grip, and didn’t go any faster. You see everyone else they managed to switch the tyres on clearly.

“We definitely need to look into that. It’s devastating to see everyone who’s worked so hard in the garage to be in Italy for the first Italian race for me and Ferrari and not make it into Q3. It’s definitely bitter sweet.”

Analysing Ferrari’s struggles, Sky Sports F1’s Anthony Davidson said: “The car has looked uncomfortable through the chicane all weekend.

"The first sector wasn't bad, but it just slipped away from them."