Ferrari not expecting any miracles after poor Belgian GP showing

Charles Leclerc has warned Ferrari followers not anticipate any miracles on Sunday after the Italian Formula One crew was knocked out of the second part of qualifying for the Belgian Grand Prix. “Well to be honest, it’s very difficult to find an explanation,” mentioned the Monegasque who claimed his first grand prix win from pole place in final yr’s Belgian race however on Saturday he certified solely 13th.

Team mate Sebastian Vettel additionally had a poor qualifying session and certified 14th.

“It’s a big step back compared to the others so we need to try and find the main issue, try and address it,” added the 22-year-old, whose time on Saturday was practically half-a-second slower than his pole place time from final yr.

“I can also understand the fans at home that are very disappointed.

“It’s understandable but as drivers we will try and make the best race possible tomorrow even though we can’t expect any miracles.”

Ferrari have been dominant on the Spa-Francorchamps observe in 2019, ending one-two in each apply session and locking out the entrance row in qualifying.

Already struggling this season and fifth within the standings — behind Mercedes, Red Bull, Racing Point and McLaren — they weren’t anticipating a repeat of that efficiency.

The sport’s most profitable crew suffered new lows this weekend.

Vettel completed final within the last apply session on Saturday morning with Leclerc 17th, leaving followers questioning if the Maranello-based squad would even make it out of the primary knockout part of qualifying.

They did survive the opening 18 minutes of the qualifying hour.

But once they didn’t make it into the pole place shootout, it marked the primary time because the 2014 British Grand Prix that neither of the purple automobiles made it into the highest 10.

“It is the true picture, it’s what the car can do around here today,” mentioned four-time world champion and 2018 Belgian winner Vettel, who’s leaving the crew on the finish of the yr.

“We tried to do our best, it’s obviously the car we have and the car we know for the whole season so far.

“So it’s not a surprise today.”