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Vettel claims Q2 exit at Spa is no surprise for struggling Ferrari

Sebastian Vettel at Spa

Sebastian Vettel says reaching Q2 was as good as Ferrari could have expected as their disappointing weekend at Spa continued.

The final practice session saw Vettel post the slowest time in the field, with team-mate Charles Leclerc only 17th quickest.

The pair posted slight improvements in qualifying but still failed to reach the elite Q3 stage, with Leclerc 13th on the grid for Sunday's Belgian Grand Prix and Vettel one place further back.

Pole-sitter Lewis Hamilton was over one and a half seconds quicker than the Ferrari pair, who enjoyed a strong showing at Spa just a year ago, with Leclerc claiming the win and Vettel setting the fastest lap of the race.

"It is the true picture of what the car can do around here today," Vettel admitted on Saturday.

"Obviously, we tried everything we can, and there was a lot of effort going in from last night to today trying to make things better.

"I think we did a little bit. Obviously, we're not where we want to be, but that's not the first race and the first qualifying where that's the case.

"P13 is not as exciting as P1, but still we tried to put everything together. This morning, we looked like we didn't make it to Q2 and we did with both cars.

"Obviously that's not a success, but it's everything we could do today and where we stand."

Leclerc called on the team to work quickly to find out why they are struggling so badly for pace.

"It's a big step back from the others, so we need to try and find the main issue to try and address it," Leclerc said. "It's not a good day but it's like this at the moment. We need to keep working hard.

"Everybody in the team needs to keep their heads up, even though it's very difficult on a day like this.

"I can also understand the fans at home that are very disappointed. It's understandable, but as drivers, we'll try to make the best race possible tomorrow, even though we can't expect any miracles."

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