Leclerc admits Ferrari have ‘got to work’ on performance after P4 in Japan as Hamilton reflects on ‘lonely race’ to P7

Charles Leclerc was left disappointed with the outcome of his Japanese Grand Prix, with the Monegasque admitting that Ferrari have “got to work” on their performance after a maximised race saw him finish in P4 while Lewis Hamilton endured a “lonely” drive to P7.

After lining up in fourth on the grid, Leclerc remained in this position when the chequered flag fell, having fended off a possible challenge from Mercedes’ George Russell during the latter stages.

Crossing the line some 15 seconds behind the McLaren of Oscar Piastri in third, the Scuderia driver reflected on his afternoon at Suzuka: “It was a very boring race for me! The McLarens were too fast in front and I was trying to manage the gap with George behind – he was a little bit faster at the end, I was a little bit faster in the middle part of the race.

“But that’s the absolute best we could do, and it’s a bit of a shame that there’s not more in the car. I’m happy in a way because after a weekend like this we’ve done so much, and on Friday I feel like I found a way to help me maximise the car more for the future, so that’s good.

Leclerc: P4 ‘the absolute best we could do’

“But I’m not happy that, whenever we maximised our result, that means it’s a P4, that is the best result we can do, and we’ve got to work on that.”

Looking ahead to the next race on the calendar in Bahrain – the second stop in a triple header sequence that concludes in Saudi Arabia – Leclerc voiced his hopes that the learnings from Japan may prove beneficial.

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“For Bahrain, I will keep working in the direction that I have been working in on Friday and see if that helps us,” he explained.

“But I think there’s not much more performance in the car than what we are seeing now. We just need new parts and, if we have them soon enough, I’m sure that will at least be a solution to our problems.”

Hamilton reflects on ‘pretty lonely race’ after P7 finish at Suzuka

As for team mate Hamilton, the seven-time World Champion stretched out his opening stint on the hard tyre and, while he overtook Racing Bulls’ Isack Hadjar to gain a position in the early stages, the Briton was ultimately unable to make any further ground during the remainder of the Grand Prix.

“It was a pretty lonely race, I didn’t have anyone really around me,” Hamilton said later on. “I had a fairly decent start considering I was on the hard tyres, [I did] quite a bit of warm-up on that tyre the first few laps and [it was] really hard to keep up with everyone else on the mediums.

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“I went as long as I could but generally didn’t have the pace of Mercedes, for example, or the guys that were ahead of me, so it was pretty straightforward.”

Asked for his perspective on where Ferrari stand with their current package – and whether he had taken further learnings from his third weekend with the team – Hamilton responded: “Yeah, I think it looks like we are third, [or] Red Bull, McLaren, Mercedes and then us sort of thing, so we’ve got some improvements to make.”