Leclerc explains Ferrari's sudden drop-off in pace after missing out ...

Charles Leclerc was disappointed to miss out on pole position in Sprint Qualifying at the United States Grand Prix given Ferrari’s promising form prior to SQ3, with the Monegasque putting the drop-off in pace down to the car not gelling with the soft tyre.

After the Scuderia topped Friday’s sole practice hour with a one-two result, their performance continued to look positive entering into Sprint Qualifying later in the day, Leclerc setting the pace in SQ1 while team mate Carlos Sainz was quickest in SQ2.

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However, when SQ3 arrived and the mandatory soft tyres were bolted on, the squad’s run at the top came to an end, with Leclerc ending the session in third ahead of Sainz in fifth.

Asked after the session if he was frustrated to miss out on pole – given that he previously looked to be in the mix – Leclerc explained: “Yeah, but for some reason [on] the soft [tyre] Mercedes really gained something that we didn’t quite have in our car.

“On the medium we were looking good, on the soft for some reason we didn’t have the pace to challenge for P1. The lap was a little bit scrappy but it’s not like I did anything weird, it just… yeah, the feeling wasn’t great.