Lewis Hamilton Baffled By Ferrari Pace As 'Mountain' Challenge Declared

Hamilton was the fastest of the duo in eighth, with Leclerc last of the 10 making it through to SQ3.

To make matters worse for Ferrari, power unit customer Sauber usurped the team by qualifying fourth by virtue of a stunning performance by Nico Hulkenberg.

Cutting a dejected figure post-session, Hamilton conceded: "It was definitely not the pace we were expecting. I really don't know [why time was lost], it was looking good in practice and SQ1 was looking pretty decent also.

'But then it just started to fall away from us, and the car is very, very tough to drive, so yeah, it just fell away from us. I mean, eight-tenths [gap to pole] is just a mountain to climb."

A season of struggles

It is the latest in a long list of struggles for Ferrari this season and comes off the back of scrutiny after brake issues at the Singapore Grand Prix.

Hamilton had been on course for fifth there after a late-race charge on soft tires, only to be denied by a brake failure, which Leclerc avoided only through excessive management, which hindered his race pace.

The SF-25 has also been hamstrung by ride height issues stemming from a double disqualification at the Chinese Grand Prix, where Hamilton had won the sprint.

Excessive plank wear has meant that Ferrari has been forced to be cautious with how low it runs its car to the ground, which is detrimental to performance in F1's ground-effect aerodynamic era, which rewards those who can run as close to the track surface as possible to create downforce.

It means that despite being considered a contender for the constructors' title this season - which McLaren has already wrapped up - Ferrari finds itself facing a stiff contest to get ahead of Mercedes for second in the table with just six races left.