Leclerc: Ferrari should still be "proud" of Bahrain GP

The Monegasque driver had looked on course for a brilliant victory before a dropped cylinder cost him power in the closing stages and he slipped back to third.

But although disappointed by the outcome, he says that Ferrari has no reason to be ashamed of what it managed to do over the weekend – and he has complete faith it will get to the bottom of the engine fault.

"It has been an unforgettable weekend for me," said Leclerc, who took his first F1 pole position on Saturday. "They have given us a great car during the weekend. Of that they should be proud.

"During the race we were extremely strong then issues happened. Obviously it's a big disappointment, not only for me but for the whole team, to not finish where we deserved to be. But we should be happy and proud of what we achieved.

"We will work on the issue but I'm completely confident they will find what the issues are and they will be fixed for the future."

Leclerc said one of the big positives from his weekend was the way he was able to deliver in qualifying – after errors in Australia cost him the shot of a better position on the grid.

"I was not satisfied with myself after Melbourne," he said. "I did quite a lot of mistakes, especially in Q3 when I had to put the lap together. I didn't here. So I'm happy.

"In the race also I felt like I did a very good job compared to Melbourne, where again I did quite a bit of mistakes. On that I'm happy.

"There's still a lot to improve, on that I will work. I always tend to focus always on the negatives of a weekend on my side and there's definitely things I will still improve. I will try to work for that."