Leclerc, Sainz slam ‘not good enough’ Ferrari cars

Charles Leclerc and Carlos Sainz slammed the performance of their cars as “not good enough” after the Ferraris finished sixth and seventh in the Saudi Arabian Grand Prix on Sunday.

Their lacklustre showing as they were beaten comprehensively by both Red Bulls, by Aston Martin’s Fernando Alonso and by both Mercedes, left them frustrated and disappointed.

Leclerc started 12th on the grid after a 10-second penalty for taking a new electronic control unit. He climbed to seventh but was dissatisfied that he was unable to compete for the podium.

Tyre wear had been blamed after Leclerc failed in the opening race.

“There’s much less degradation here compared to Bahrain,” he said. 

“So, overall, I think this should go more our way, but overall the pace is just not good enough. There wasn’t much more in the car today. That was the best we could do.”

His feelings came out during an exchange on team radio when he complained that race engineer Xavier Marcos Padros had failed to inform him that Mercedes’ Lewis Hamilton had pitted ahead of him under the safety car.

“You need to tell me that before… Come on!” he cried.

Leclerc had been forced to deny that he requested a crisis meeting at Maranello, Ferrari’s team base, after their disappointment in Bahrain.

Team-mate Sainz was also downcast after finishing sixth. 

“It’s difficult to find or take any positives when you are P6 and P7,” he said.

Sergio Perez won the race with his Red Bull teammate Max Verstappen coming from 15th on the grid to second.