Charles Leclerc provides blunt Ferrari assessment

Charles Leclerc cut a despondent figure at the Miami Grand Prix after a disappointing Friday qualifying session left him to start the sprint in sixth.

Whilst the Ferrari driver out-performed team-mate Lewis Hamilton, who was seventh fastest, by two-tenths of a second, he was extremely downbeat about the Italian squad's prospects at the Miami International Circuit.

It has been a difficult start to the season for the team, but after the Monegasque's podium finish at the Saudi Arabian Grand Prix, there was hope the Scuderia could push on and show some of the form that saw it narrowly miss out on the F1 constructors' championship to McLaren last term.

However, the dejected Leclerc appeared resigned to his immediate fate in Florida, acknowledging that the "pace is just not there" at the moment with the SF-25 when asked how he felt about the qualifying result.

"Bad," the 27-year-old said directly in response, before elaborating on the situation further.

"The lap was good, but the pace is just not at all there for now, so it's a bit annoying, but it's the way it is.

"I'll try my best to try and do something special with the start [of the sprint]. But to be honest, there's not much room for improvement. That's the pace of the car."

Leclerc's damning indictment

Even more concerning for the Maranello-based outfit is the changing face of its struggles, with Leclerc pointing out it is not one consistent problem for the team to address.

When asked where the big losses in lap time were coming from, he offered a damning indictment in reply.

"It's every corner, really," the eight-time grand prix winner explained. "So it's not like we are particularly weak in one type of corner.

"Yes, the slow speed seems to be a little bit more of our weakness, but it changes from one weekend to the other, so it's just not great."