Leclerc hails Gasly’s ‘amazing' qualifying lap as he's left a disappointed P7 at Imola

Ferrari’s Charles Leclerc had to content himself with P7 in qualifying for the Emilia Romagna Grand Prix, three places down on friend Pierre Gasly whose stunning P4 on the grid left the Monegasque driver shocked by the pace of the AlphaTauri driver.

Having taken fifth in practice at Imola – the only practice session of the weekend – Leclerc said Ferrari’s pace was heading “in the right direction”, but he took two steps back in qualifying to start on the fourth row, and voiced his disappointment on Saturday afternoon.

READ MORE: Gasly dedicates P4 at Imola to Senna after equalling best ever qualifying performance

“I’m not very satisfied with my lap and the way I drove in Q3 but it’s life, and looking at the gaps between me and Pierre it’s a bit disappointing, but he did an amazing job, an amazing lap but I didn’t today, so hopefully tomorrow we’ll have a better day,” surmised Leclerc on Saturday.

However, Leclerc hinted that seventh on the grid was close to his overall expectations at Imola.

“We probably expected something more but P7 is what we could do today. P7 is very, very close [to what I expected] so looking at my lap, I’m not very satisfied with my lap and the way I drove in Q3.”

READ MORE: Bottas beats Hamilton to take pole at Imola as Verstappen survives Q2 scare to take 3rd

Sebastian Vettel didn’t make it into the top 10 as Ferrari enter their final home race of the season disappointed. The four-time champion, who leaves to make way for Carlos Sainz at the end of the season, managed 14th, despite admitting he felt "happier" in the car than he had recently.