"We were just slow, there's not much more to add to that," Leclerc said. "We didn't have the pace, I did a good start, put myself in the best position possible, I had the two Mercedes that were going away so I had clear air, just struggling so much with the car."
"We need to work honestly and try to understand because some races we are not very competitive in quali and we are better in the race, which had been the case at the beginning of the season, now we have done quite a good job yesterday in quali, but then struggling massively with the car in the race."
Leclerc revealed he wants to follow in the footsteps of soon to be 7-time world champion Lewis Hamilton, by following him into the fashion world.
"I really like clothes design," he told the Formula 1 website. "It's definitely the creative element that inspires me."
"I have spoken to Lewis very briefly, congratulated him for his new collection. He's doing a great job with the brand and I quite like what he's doing. It's definitely something I'd like to do further down the road."
In the meantime, the road he is taking with Ferrari will not enable him to emulate Hamilton on the track.
Former Ferrari management or drivers are not short of advice on how to fix Ferrari's woes. Current FIA President Jean Todt was an integral part of Ferrari when Michael Schumacher won five consecutive championships between 2000 and 2004. And according to Todt, Ferrari was in a worse position when he took over as team boss in1993.
"I have a good understanding about the situation," Todt said. "I saw some reports, people keep saying it's the same, [but] it's a completely different situation than the one I found when I arrived in July 1993."
"Now it's a very strong organization, very well settled. Probably some parts are not at the level they need to be where they are expecting to be. And in a way, honestly, where Formula 1 needs them to be."
Another former Ferrari boss is Ross Brawn, now the managing director of F1. He was technical director for Benetton when Schumacher won back-to-back titles in 1994 and 1995, and for Ferrari when Schumacher was champion from 2000-2004.
He then won the title with his own team, Brawn GP in 2009, when Jenson Button was world champion. Brawn had purchased Honda's factory in Brackley, England, and in 2010 the team morphed into Mercedes, and the rest is history so far as Mercedes is concerned from 2014 on.
By then Brawn had handed over the reins to Toto Wolff, but he will understand better than most what has happened to Ferrari since winning at Spa and Monza last year when it had a more powerful engine than Mercedes.
A protest from the other teams and an FIA investigation, meant a directive relating to engine performance was issued, and coincident or not, the performance of the Ferrari has declined dramatically since.
The FIA has refused to give details of a private settlement reached with Ferrari, much to the dismay of the other teams, but chances are they are less concerned now the team is no longer a threat. Brawn suggests Ferrari needs a change of plan but not a revolution.
"I've been fortunate to see a large part of Ferrari's 1000 races, including of course a memorable period working there. I have fond memories of my time at Maranello. We enjoyed a lot of success, but only after several tough years putting the building blocks in place," Brawn recalled.
"Ferrari have a lot of work ahead of them to return to the front. A kneejerk reaction never solves a problem. A structured plan is needed-and the time given for it to come together". 'The team may need strengthening but it doesn't need a revolution," he added.
Former F2 driver and now commentator, Davide Vasecchi, is less patient than Brawn in expecting a Ferrari turnaround. labelling the team's performance at Mugello a "disaster".
"In Italy everyone is pushing 'Ferrari, Ferrari, Ferrari and the only one that is winning at the moment is Alpha Tauri, that is Italian!" Valsecchi noted.
"But Ferrari is not maintaining the level at the moment and I'm a bit disappointed about it. For them it's a disaster, because if you consider that you have one driver that is a four-time world champion [Sebastian Vettel] that at the moment is not delivering at all, the other one [Charles Leclerc] that is one of the biggest and greatest talents of the last 20 years in Formula 1, and sometimes is just marginal, but most of the time is just normal because the car is too slow. It's very disappointing"
Former F1 driver Timo Glock has questioned how Ferrari team boss Mattia Binotto has managed to keep his job.
"Apparently he has a watertight contract," Glock joked. "Usually its relatively clear that he has to leave after such incidents. But at the moment he is still holding up well in the saddle. I'm curious to see how much longer."
Binotto says the team will take minor upgrades to Sochi for the Russian GP this weekend, but says, "this will not change the big picture".
"I think on our side we need to review the projects, with the view of 2021. I think it will take some more time to do it."
If he is worried about his job security, it is not obvious from his comments.
"I've got the commitment, the trust, and the support of my top management, which is great," he said.
If Binotto was the manager of an English Premier League team, he would have been long gone. Going but not out, is Vettel. Wolf is delighted Vettel is joining Aston Martin next season, because he has shares in the team, noting the "German market is the second most important market" and it is "great for F1 that Seb stays. He's the second most successful driver of this decade, and it's important for F1 that someone like Sebastian, who is in his prime years, doesn't leave."
His former Red Bull teammate and foe, Mark Webber, shares that view.
"I'm happy for him, I think it's a great move from Aston Martin, for them a real masterstroke," Webber proffered. "In terms of sheer knowledge, nobody at Racing Point from a driver's perspective had that much knowledge going to a team."
Felipe Massa, a Ferrari driver from 2006 to 2013, says "to see such an important team suffering in this way is very sad."
"Vettel's time has passed, so much so that his results this year show that Ferrari may have taken the right option not to renew his contract."
"Carlos Sainz is a good driver, young and has a lot to grow as well. Of course, they need to have a competitive car before anything, but I hope for the sake of him and Ferrari."
So how does Sainz feel about his decision to leave McLaren for Ferrari when McLaren is now the third best team on the grid?
"Even for people who laugh now because of how Ferrari is doing or the task that it can be to go to Ferrari because of the situation they are in now, I laugh at them," Sainz told a Spanish publication.
"It's just such an incredible feeling that not even many of the best drivers in F1 history have been able to have. You have to have patience and trust in the project. It is a very young project, Mattia already said last year, and now we have to wait and see if things improve a bit. They will surely improve."
Sainz isn't the only one to share that sentiment but to understand how the team with one of the largest budgets, struggled 12 months after it had the most powerful engine on the grid, may only become evident if the terms of the FIA settlement are ever revealed.