Leclerc issues surprising Ferrari half-term verdict

Charles Leclerc has declared he could not have “hoped for better” following the first half of Ferrari's F1 season.

His comment comes after he was classified in third place at the Belgian Grand Prix, moving up one position when Mercedes' George Russell was disqualified from the race.

It marked Leclerc's first podium result since his home victory in Monaco, after which Ferrari endured a slump in form.

“Our first half was really good, I think we couldn’t hope for better,” Leclerc told media including RacingNews365. 

“We maximised the potential of the car. Then we’ve had four races where we’re going extreme setups from extreme setups.”

“And for me, it was just impossible to get to quali and to know where the limit of the car was. And we lost a lot of points.”

Having endured a difficult run on the build-up to Spa, Leclerc believes Ferrari has made steps forward - but acknowledged the team is simply not in a condition to compete consistently at the front of the field.

“The last two races, we focused again on maximising the results, and I think we did, but just not fast enough,” he said.

“So that’s where we really need to focus and to do a step for the second half if we want to have any better results.”