Motor racing-Ferrari's Leclerc struggles with 'unpredictable' car

By Rae Wee SINGAPORE, Oct 4 (Reuters) – A frustrated Charles Leclerc said he struggled to find pace with an "unpredictable" car in Saturday's qualifying for the Singapore Grand Prix, following a disappointing showing for the two Ferraris. The Monegasque will begin Sunday's race from the fourth row after he finished seventh in the final round of qualifying with a best time of one minute 29.784 seconds. "I kind of tried to find consistency in that car throughout the whole weekend, and there was no way out," said Leclerc. "The car is still very snappy and unpredictable and I know that it's not my strength whenever there's understeer in the car and this weekend it has been the case from FP2 to qualifying. "We don't really find any ways out without making the car even more unpredictable, which is not what you want on a city track so it's been a very, very tough weekend." Ferrari, who are vying for second place in the constructors' championship with rivals Mercedes and Red Bull in a race set to go down to the wire, face an uphill battle for a podium finish on Sunday. With seven races to go, the Italian outfit sit third in the table, trailing Mercedes by four points and with a 14-point lead over Red Bull. Mercedes' George Russell emerged in pole position at Saturday's qualifying and his teammate, Kimi Antonelli, was fourth. Red Bull's Max Verstappen placed second. Overtaking is difficult in Singapore. The race has been won from pole position 10 times out of the past 15. While Leclerc has started on pole twice, he has never emerged victorious in the Marina Bay circuit known for its punishing tyre degradation and high downforce. Leclerc's teammate, Lewis Hamilton, will line up in row three after finishing sixth. Hamilton, a four-times winner of the Singapore Grand Prix with Mercedes, has yet to secure a podium finish for the Scuderia this season. "Naturally, you've seen Red Bull had an upgrade … I think Mercedes have found something, and we haven't," said the seven-times world champion. "So you know, we're just fighting with what we have. "Everyone's trying so hard, but it's definitely disappointing to finish where we (have) today, when there was potential to … be higher." (Reporting by Rae Wee; Editing by Ken Ferris)

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