Ferrari’s long-awaited title push once again fell flat at the Japanese Grand Prix, with Charles Leclerc settling for fourth, Lewis Hamilton trailing in seventh, and both drivers voicing frustrations over the car’s performance.
While it marked an improvement from their disqualification in China two weeks earlier due to technical infringements, the iconic Italian team remained well off the pace compared to the McLarens and Max Verstappen’s dominant Red Bull on Sunday.
“There was nothing more in the car,” Leclerc said. “We did a good job with balance and strategy, but it is even more disappointing when you do everything perfectly and finish P4. The pace is just not there.”
Leclerc is sixth in the Formula One drivers’ standings after three races, and Hamilton is eighth, while Ferrari already trails leader McLaren by 76 points in the manufacturers’ standings.
Seven-time world champion Hamilton did manage to pull off one of the few overtakes in the race, but it moved him up only one spot from his start in eighth on the grid.
“I did the best I could today. I was genuinely lacking performance compared to the cars ahead of me,” Hamilton said.
“We found something on the car that was underperforming for the last three races, so I’m hoping when that’s fixed, I’ll start getting better results. Onward and upward.”
Team principal Fred Vasseur said the car was already more competitive than it had been at the start of the season, but estimated it was still about three-tenths of a second behind the leading teams and warned against expecting a major leap forward.
“If last year we did a good step forward from the beginning of the season to midseason, it’s not that we found a magic bullet. You will never find something on the car at three or four-tenths,” he said.
“One year ago, we were almost in the same situation – perhaps a bit worse in terms of pace – and the reaction of the team was very, very strong.
“We worked as a team. We made small step by small step, and we have to keep exactly the same approach this season. But for sure, it’s not ideal, and I would prefer to have won the first two or three races.”