Frustrated Charles Leclerc “cannot accept” the situation at Ferrari

The Ferrari driver says his team is underdelivering after a disappointing qualifying left him fighting back through the pack against Alex Albon and Pierre Gasly in F1’s Imola GP

Charles Leclerc expressed his disappointment after struggling to a sixth-place finish in the F1 Imola GP, saying he cannot accept the position he currently finds himself in at Ferrari.

Leclerc was eliminated in Q2 on Saturday and although he recovered to finish inside the points, he was left dejected with the weekend’s performance.

The Monegasque currently finds himself 85 points behind championship leader Oscar Piastri and only finished on the podium once this season with third place in Saudi Arabia.

He said: “I was saying before the race, it was one of the races where you've got to race with the heart and you've got to put the elbows out a little bit.

“I know that when it's like this, you go very much on the limit, sometimes a little bit over. But when you are starting P11, I mean, as a driver, I just cannot accept the situation we are in.

“I took risks. I don't think that with Pierre Gasly, I was particularly at fault over the limit. It was just a racing incident in the way it was.

Charles Leclerc, Ferrari, Alexander Albon, Williams

Photo by: Lars Baron / Motorsport Images via Getty Images

“With Alex, it was very much on the limit for sure. I thought that in the way the rules are written, I was right on the limit of those rules.

“I've got to check the images again, but I don't regret anything I've done. I mean, today was all about giving it all. And I knew from the moment that I didn't take the pitstop on the second safety car that it was going to be a very difficult race.”

Leclerc won his home race in Monaco last season to spectacular scenes as he ended his winless hoodoo to clinch victory in Monte Carlo. However, he believes he will be hard-pressed to pull off a repeat in this year’s race.

When asked what he was expecting in Monaco, he said: “A very difficult weekend. I think Monaco is exposing quite a few weaknesses of our car, so I don't know, but there are also many things that you cannot really expect.

"The amount of risk you take in qualifying, the car is set up in a very different way, so I hope we will be surprised.”