Charles Leclerc makes 'unacceptable' comment after losing to Lewis Hamilton at Imola GP

Charles Leclerc lamented 's dire qualifying performance after his first Grand Prix loss to team-mate at Imola. Leclerc and Hamilton were to forced to settle for the 11th and 12th on the starting grid for the Emilia Romagna GP after both their cars failed to make it past Q2 on Saturday in Ferrari's worst qualifying so far this season.

Despite their difficult start, both managed to finish Sunday's race in the top six, with the 27-year-old snagging sixth spot and the seven-time world champion . It was the Brit's first time this season besting his team-mate in a race, sprints aside, but he remains eight points behind him in the World Drivers' Championship. Speaking after the race, Leclerc admitted the team's circumstances heading into the race were unacceptable, in what has been a hugely frustrating start to the campaign for the most successful team in F1 history.

"I was saying before, it's one of the races where you've got to race with the heart and put the elbows out a little bit," the Monegasque driver said to Sky Sports. "When it's like this you go very much on the limit, sometimes a little bit over.

"But when you are starting P11, as a driver I cannot accept the situation we are in." Hamilton was in a more positive mood after the race, admitting an improvement was made as well as reflecting on his first race in front of the Tifosi as a member of the Ferrari family.

"I did think we would make an improvement this weekend with something I've fixed. And I think there is more to come," the 40-year-old said. "The set-up was really good, the car felt really mega and the team did a fantastic job on strategy and pit stops. It was a lot of pressure on us with struggling through the year with the car so far, and particularly with our qualifying.

"I don't remember the last time I had a race like that moving forwards. I'm sure there was one last year but this was different because I'm in the red car. To finally have that connection, that synergy with the car, was a really great feeling."

The season heads to Monaco next week - Leclerc's home country and where he won last year - but he fears Ferrari's fragility around the slow-speed track could spell for another difficult weekend for the team. "Monaco is exposing quite a few weaknesses of our car," he said.

Despite Leclerc's concerns, Hamilton believes it could very well be a favourable race for the team, but on one condition. "It will still be a question about getting the tyres working in a single lap. If we can figure that out next week, then I think we could be in a good position," he said.