Leclerc fails to rule out Ferrari Spanish GP podium

Charles Leclerc stopped short of ruling out a Ferrari podium at the Spanish Grand Prix but has accepted it will be "very difficult" to achieve after qualifying fourth.

The Monegasque has so far led the Ferrari charge against McLaren to be 'best of the rest' in the constructors' standings behind Mercedes and Red Bull as team-mate Carlos Sainz acclimatises to the Scuderia following his winter switch.

Although finishing regularly inside the top six on race days, it is in qualifying where Leclerc has really shone this year with the Ferrari driver qualifying fourth at three of the first four races this year.

After qualifying behind only Lewis Hamilton, Max Verstappen and Valtteri Bottas, Leclerc was asked if a podium finish could be on the cards on Sunday afternoon.

"Anything is possible but realistically I think it is going to be very difficult," assessed Leclerc.

"In normal conditions, I don't think we can keep third place if we get there at one point, but the goal is to try and extract the maximum out of the car and if third is the best we can do, it will be third.

"But I think the most important thing is that we try to score with both cars as many points as possible.

"We are in front of both McLarens which are our main competitors this year and this is an important fight. We need to take as many points home as possible."

Leclerc's qualifying effort was 0.769secs slower than Hamilton's pole time but remained the best of a tightly contested midfield with little over two-tenths separating himself and eighth-placed Sergio Perez.

He added: "I'm happy with today. I don't think there was much more to do in terms of position for sure. In terms of lap time, maybe a little bit more in the last sector, I didn't put everything together but apart from that I'm very satisfied."

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