Leclerc delivers blunt Ferrari assessment despite Spa podium

Charles Leclerc has delivered a damning assessment of Ferrari's Belgian Grand Prix, despite inheriting a podium. 

From pole position, Leclerc was passed by Lewis Hamilton on lap three, by the one-stopping George Russell and finally by Oscar Piastri on lap 36 for the final podium place as Russell led Hamilton and Piastri home.

However, following Russell's disqualification for an underweight car, Leclerc stepped up to the podium, his first rostrum since winning his home Monaco GP in May as Ferrari's form has dipped.

The Monegasque is 100 points behind championship-leader Max Verstappen heading into the summer break as Leclerc delivered a blunt assessment of Ferrari's race.

"It is very simple, what happened is that we're just not fast enough," Leclerc told media including RacingNews365 before the news of Russell's disqualification came through.

"I felt like we were the fourth-fastest car behind McLaren, Red Bull and Mercedes, and on a normal race track, it is very difficult to keep them behind. 

"We did a good job to keep Max and Lando behind, but fourth was the best we could hope for. 

"If it was Red Bull in front, then I think it would have been a positive weekend, but it was a Mercedes who we thought we were on a par with - and they had an edge on us. 

"So I don't consider this result very positive. 

"I thought fourth was the best possible result today, but what makes me not so happy is that we have two Mercedes and one McLaren in front, so it is worse than expected."

Ferrari's problem

Since Ferrari's form dipped from the Canadian Grand Prix, each of Red Bull, McLaren and Mercedes have picked up race wins, with no real contender stealing a march on the others.

Leclerc referenced this, and also touched on the bouncing problem that has stunted Ferrari's progress since the flawed Spanish GP upgrade.

"There was some bouncing towards the end of the race when we were pushing in the high-speed, in the last stint it was a little bit more, but it wasn't crazy," he said. 

"Personally, I felt that McLaren had a huge advantage of pace over the weekend, which I saw a little bit less of today, but there were still probably fastest with Red Bull and Mercedes.

"It is good to see that everybody is so close, but unfortunately, we are still the fourth fastest team and the top three keeps changing. 

"But we are consistently behind them, so we just need more pace."