Ferrari’s fourth in F1 Belgian GP “worse than expected” because Mercedes quicker

Charles Leclerc feels Ferrari cannot be satisfied with his best result since his 2024 Monaco win, as his fourth in Formula 1’s Belgian Grand Prix came adrift of the race-winning Mercedes cars.

Ferrari started the season as Red Bull’s closest challenger but has since slipped behind McLaren and Mercedes after its Barcelona upgrades backfired.

The Italian team had worked hard to improve its performance in high-speed corners such as those around Spa, with Leclerc then stunning the field by finishing second in wet qualifying in Belgium and so inheriting pole for Sunday’s race given Max Verstappen’s grid penalty.

He led the opening laps, but then slipped behind Lewis Hamilton and eventually off the podium as McLaren’s Oscar Piastri fought by from behind in the final stint and George Russell’s one-stop gamble paid off with a surprise win for the Briton.

Leclerc told reporters afterwards that “it’s very simple what happened – we were just not fast enough”.

“I felt like we were the fourth fastest car today,” he added. “McLaren and Red Bull was expected. Mercedes was faster than expected.

“On a normal race, dry track, it’s very difficult to keep them behind on a track like this. We did a good job to keep Max and Lando [Norris, in fifth and sixth adrift of Leclerc] behind at the end, but fourth was the best we hoped for today.”

When asked if his long time running in the podium places at Spa was a positive he could reflect on, Leclerc replied: “It wasn’t, because if it was a Red Bull in front then I think it would have been a positive weekend, but now it was a Mercedes, which we thought we were on par with them and they had the edge on us.

“So, I don’t consider this result a very positive one.

“I think fourth was what I thought would be the best result possible today with two McLarens in front and one Red Bull [Sergio Perez, starting second alongside Leclerc].

“But again, what makes me not so happy about today is that we have two Mercedes and one McLaren in front, and the Mercedes we thought that we were on a par with them. So, it’s worse than expected.”

Leclerc’s team-mate, Carlos Sainz, also felt the Spa result showed that Ferrari had not taken a step forward in performance compared to its rivals.

“When you see the pace of Mercedes, Red Bull and McLaren in the race, I don’t think so,” Sainz said. “I think still the…