(Motorsports news) The Italian team had performed well in Friday’s practice, but in the lead-up to qualifying, the team seemed to be lacking in speed at the beginning of the lap compared to the cars in front of it.

Thanks to the tow that Red Bull driver Nico Hulkenberg provided, his Ferrari was traveling between three and four kilometers per hour slower on the straightaways than the two McLarens, and even slower than pole-sitter Max Verstappen.

Leclerc believed that Ferrari’s final grid positions—third and fourth after Oscar Piastri was docked three positions for obstructing Kevin Magnussen during the first practice session—came at the expense of a chance to finish higher than third.

Going back and reexamining qualifying from yesterday. For whatever reason, I believe we lost everything at the start of the lap,” he remarked.

“We lost everything on the run down to Turn 2—Max also had the slipstream—and we had a somewhat different power strategy than McLaren and Red Bull.

We’ll need to investigate this further because track location is crucial, particularly on a track like this one.

“When you only have a tenth in between Red Bull, McLaren, and ourselves, we need to do everything perfect and the third place today cost us maybe a better result in the race.”

Leclerc explained that it was challenging to evaluate Ferrari’s extensive package of enhancements for the Imola race because of the demands of the Imola track.

But with the new bodywork, floor, and wings the team had built for its home race, he was sure they had achieved their goals.

“I think first of all, it’s not the best track to judge upgrades, mostly because kerb-riding is such a thing here that if you have a good car on kerbs, then that could hide a bit more what is the real order,” the Monegasque stated.

“The good news is that we have all the data we anticipated from those changes. It accomplished its goal precisely, which is always a positive thing.”

The Italian team had performed well in Friday’s practice, but in the lead-up to qualifying, the team seemed to be lacking in speed at the beginning of the lap compared to the cars in front of it.

Thanks to the tow that Red Bull driver Nico Hulkenberg provided, his Ferrari was traveling between three and four kilometers per hour slower on the straightaways than the two McLarens, and even slower than pole-sitter Max Verstappen.

Leclerc believed that Ferrari’s final grid positions—third and fourth after Oscar Piastri was docked three positions for obstructing Kevin Magnussen during the first practice session—came at the expense of a chance to finish higher than third.

Going back and reexamining qualifying from yesterday. For whatever reason, I believe we lost everything at the start of the lap,” he remarked.

“We lost everything on the run down to Turn 2—Max also had the slipstream—and we had a somewhat different power strategy than McLaren and Red Bull.

We’ll need to investigate this further because track location is crucial, particularly on a track like this one.

“When you only have a tenth in between Red Bull, McLaren, and ourselves, we need to do everything perfect and the third place today cost us maybe a better result in the race.”

Leclerc explained that it was challenging to evaluate Ferrari’s extensive package of enhancements for the Imola race because of the demands of the Imola track.

But with the new bodywork, floor, and wings the team had built for its home race, he was sure they had achieved their goals.

“I think first of all, it’s not the best track to judge upgrades, mostly because kerb-riding is such a thing here that if you have a good car on kerbs, then that could hide a bit more what is the real order,” the Monegasque stated.

“The good news is that we have all the data we anticipated from those changes. It accomplished its goal precisely, which is always a positive thing.”

Also read: Ferrari announces ex-Mercedes F1 men D’ambrosio’s arrivement, Serra