Ferrari boss Fred Vasseur has conceded his team has made mistakes but denies his team lacked the pace to compete in Monaco.

Charles Leclerc was third fastest in qualifying but picked up a three-place grid penalty after he baulked Lando Norris late in the three-part session.

That was a result of poor communication from the pit wall, an error Vasseur has acknowledged and apologised to his driver for.

However, he rejects suggestions that the team is at risk of slipping behind Alpine and becoming F1’s fifth-fastest team.

Esteban Ocon delivered the Enstone squad’s first podium in two years in Monaco while both he and team-mate Pierre Gasly showed strongly in the principality.

It saw Alpine amass 21 points in a race Ferrari could only muster 12.

“At the end of the day, we were P3 in quali at less than one-tenth off the pole position, two hundredths off the front row,” Vasseur told select media, including Speedcafe.

“I don’t think that it was a disaster. I think we make some mistakes over the weekend, team and drivers together, but to say that the base was not there, I’m going to call it a bit harsh.

“We were in position to fight for the pole position and starting from the pole I think the win was possible.”

Ferrari has typically enjoyed good single-lap pace but has struggled with tyre wear in the race.

It’s a trend that has been seen since Fernando Alonso was able to pass Carlos Sainz in the latter stages of the season-opener in Bahrain to claim the final podium position.

More latterly it was seen in Miami, where Sainz and Leclerc both struggled with their tyres in the grand prix, though curiously each on the opposite compound.

However, Vasseur argued that was not the case in Monaco and his team’s performance was instead limited by circumstance.

Sainz found himself tucked up behind Esteban Ocon, who’d inherited third on the grid when Leclerc was penalised, and picked up damage early on before sliding off in the wet conditions later.

With Leclerc also down the order, owing to the Saturday penalty, the Scuderia was never in a position to stretch its legs and show its potential.

“It was not a matter of pace, we were stuck behind Ocon and the frustration of Carlos came from the fact that he wanted to show the pace of the car,” Vasseur said.

“But you can’t say that we had no pace into the race, I think just the circumstances and the race scenario, the result of this is we didn’t show any pace.

“I think that Ocon was managing also, but the feeling from Carlos is that we were far away of the potential of the car.

“I am okay with you on the pace of Mianmi, we didn’t show a good pace.

“But the quali of Miami that we are fighting for pole positon; the quali of Monaco we were fighting for pole position; and the race of Monaco I would say that nobody knows.

“I think next week probably we will have a better view of the race pace because I hope that Barcelona is more relevant.

“But this weekend in terms of pure performance – not in terms of results, because in terms of pure results we are far away of the expectation – but we are far away from the expectations for the call of Charles on Saturday and the fact that Carlos went straight one time and he lost three or four positions at this stage.”

Formula 1 heads to Circuit de Barcelona-Catalunya this weekend for the Spanish Grand Prix, opening practice for which begins at 13:30 local time on Friday (21:30 AEST).