Charles Leclerc says Ferrari is struggling to understand the cause of its one-lap pace issues at Spa-Francorchamps, as its troubled 2020 campaign continued.
Neither Leclerc nor team-mate Sebastian Vettel made it through to Q3, ending qualifying in P13 and P14 respectively.
Ferrari is the only team that is slower at Spa-Francorchamps compared to 12 months ago, when it claimed pole position and the race win.
Ferrari has been struggling since the start of the season, with its straight-line speed taking a noticeable step backwards from 2019, following a private settlement with the FIA.
“To be honest, it’s very difficult to find an explanation,” Leclerc said after qualifying.
“It’s a big step back compared to the others so we need to try and find the main issue, try and address it.
“It’s not a good day but it’s like this at the moment. We need to keep working very hard. I think everyone in the team needs to keep their heads up even though it’s very difficult in tough times like this.
“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.”
Vettel added that the pace of the car around Spa this weekend is the “true picture” of where Ferrari sits in the pecking order.
”Obviously, we tried everything we can and a lot of effort going in from last night to today, trying to make things better,” Vettel said.
“I think we did a little bit, but obviously we’re not where we want to be, but that’s not the first race and the first qualifying where that’s the case.
“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.”
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