Leclerc slates worst Ferrari performance of the season

Sam Hall
Monday 31 October 2022 09:15

Charles Leclerc has declared the Mexico City Grand Prix one of Ferrari's worst of the season after finishing over a minute behind race-winner Max Verstappen.

Ferrari struggled for pace throughout the majority of the weekend at the Autódromo Hermanos Rodríguez where the Scuderia was unable to match Red Bull and Mercedes.

At the end of the 71 laps, Leclerc trailed home sixth and was the lowest-placed driver not to be lapped by Verstappen.

Asked if he expected a stronger performance at the next race in Brazil, Leclerc said: "Yes.

"I hope it won’t be worse than this because I don’t expect any race worse than this. It’s probably one of the worst races together with Spa. But I honestly believe it is a one-off.

“For the future, we need to understand what we can do better in those conditions for us to be better.”

Despite his struggles across the early phases of the weekend and engine problems in qualifying, Leclerc claimed the depth of Ferrari's difficulties in the race came as a surprise.

“Coming into the race, as much as I am optimistic every time I’m going into a race, here I knew it was going to be difficult," he added.

“I did not expect it to be that difficult, though, and to be that much away from the guys in front.”