Charles Leclerc says his efforts in Sunday's Portuguese GP were thwarted by graining on the medium tyre, a hindrance that nevertheless allowed the Ferrari driver to score a P6 finish.
Leclerc was at a loss to understand why Pirelli's medium compound was such a poor fit for the Scuderia's cars as teammate Carlos Sainz, who finished just outside the points after a promising performance in qualifying, was also hindered by the graining issue.
"I think we took a great decision to go on the hard tyres, but the mediums for us – only for us – we struggled massively, whether it was Carlos or myself," said the Monegasque.
"Me in the first stint and Carlos in the second stint, we had a lot of graining on the medium tyres straight away and struggled a lot on that compound.
"I don’t have any explanations. On paper it looked like a very good choice. But we struggled a lot."
Leclerc said the unsatisfactory result capped off a weekend in which he believes he should have done a better job overall.
"If I look at the whole weekend, I haven’t done a great job as a driver," he said.
"Whether it was in free practice, qualifying I didn’t extract the maximum out of the car because I was very inconsistent; today I’ve done a good job and I think from eighth there wasn’t much better we could do.
"But looking at the whole weekend, I could have done a much better job," he added.
"With the wind it’s been very tricky all weekend, especially with those cars, the braking points are changing and I never really found any good references.
"In the race I found my rhythm, but I’m looking forward to getting back to ‘normal’ conditions and a ‘normal’ track to be better."
Although disappointed with his weekend, Leclerc confirmed once again Ferrari's clear progress.
"It’s encouraging for the whole team," he said. "We were struggling a lot last year, we did a step forward this year and we need to keep in mind also that Portimao is quite a strange track.
"Last year we were a lot quicker [there] than in other races and we didn’t know why. So let’s wait for Barcelona and see where we start again."
Gallery: The beautiful wives and girlfriends of F1 drivers
Keep up to date with all the F1 news via Facebook and Twitter
Carlos Sainz was left scratching his head after a disastrous Sunday at the Sao Paulo…
Fernando Alonso braved both physical agony and mechanical challenges in the Sao Paulo Grand Prix,…
Alpine’s remarkable double podium at the São Paulo Grand Prix with Esteban Ocon and Pierre…
Alexander Albon, Williams (Did Not Start): 5.5/10 Alex Albon is definitely going through something of…
Jos Verstappen wasted no time after his son spectacular win at the São Paulo Grand…
Charles Leclerc's weekend in Sao Paulo was unfortunately a stark contrast to Ferrari's recent triumphs…