Charles Leclerc delivers sobering Ferrari message after brutal Singapore GP

Charles Leclerc believes Ferrari is not able to "extract much more" from its package after a troubled Singapore GP. 

Having qualified sixth and seventh, Ferrari's challenge at Marina Bay was hobbled by the need for "LiCo" - lift and coast - to protect the brakes, with Leclerc having to lift off nearly 200m from the usual braking points for some corners to get the car home, ultimately in sixth place.

Team-mate Lewis Hamilton suffered a brake failure late on, after stopping for fresh tyres in a bid to try and overtake Kimi Antonelli to rescue more points in the battle for second in the constructors', but the Briton dropped back with three laps to go - eventually finishing eighth after a penalty for cutting corners to try and stay ahead of Fernando Alonso. 

Ferrari now finds itself on 298 points in the constructors' standings, 27 points behind Mercedes and just eight ahead of a resurgent Red Bull, as Leclerc delivered a worrying message.

"From lap eight, it was basically all about managing the brakes," Leclerc told media, including RacingNews365.

"I think everybody has to manage to a certain extent on a track like this, but I think we were on the worst side of things, and that makes it extremely difficult [to be competitive]. Our whole race was very tricky."

Leclerc was then questioned about the swapping of places with Hamilton so he could attack Antonelli after the Azerbaijan mix-up on the line, but Leclerc did not think this was the "biggest problem" affecting the team. 

"I don't think this is the biggest problem of the team at the moment. Unfortunately, we don't have the race car to fight with the guys in front," Leclerc added.

"McLaren has always had the same gap on us compared to the beginning of the year. Red Bull has taken a step since Monza to the same level as McLaren, and Mercedes is now at the same level as McLaren and Red Bull.

"And then there is us. It is not easy because, of course, you want to fight for better positions, but at the moment, it feels like we are passengers to the car, and we cannot extract much more."