Charles Leclerc readily admits that Ferrari's current Formula 1 form is "not good enough", but thinks its situation must be put in context against other rivals who have fallen short.
In the wake of Italian media speculation suggesting that Ferrari team principal Fred Vasseur's future could be in doubt if the squad's situation does not turn around soon, Leclerc inevitably found himself being probed on the team's performances ahead of the Canadian Grand Prix.
While open that its lack of victories so far this year falls short of expectations for a campaign where it hoped to fight for the title, equally he thinks it wrong for those outside to suggest it is a big disaster.
He reckons instead that it is the surprise leap forward that McLaren made over the winter that has skewed people's perceptions of where everything stands right now.
"None of us is satisfied by how it's going at the moment, that's clear," Leclerc said when asked by The Race to put this campaign in context.
"We came into the season thinking that we had chances to challenge McLaren and Red Bull in order to win the championship. That has not been the case so far.
"However, it's fair also to say that I don't think many people understood apart from McLaren. They've done a huge step forward compared to last year, a lot more than anybody else.
"And if we compare ourselves to our other competitors, apart from McLaren, it's not like we are having a shocking season. We are second in the constructors' [championship]."
While in points terms Ferrari is indeed McLaren's closest challenger, Leclerc readily accepts that this is still not good enough for a team that so openly has sights on securing a first drivers' crown since Kimi Raikkonen in 2007.
"The pressure is normal when you are working for Ferrari," he explained. "Second is never good enough but we are all aware of it.
"So it's not like the outside pressure is having any influence on the pressure that we put ourselves first. We want to be winning. And as I keep saying, it's not good enough, but I'm not the only one to say that.
"All the team knows that it's not good enough and that Ferrari should be winning, and that's what we are putting all our efforts into. It is to try and bring Ferrari back to the top. At the moment, McLaren is a stronger team, and it's up to us to react."
Leclerc thinks that the challenge Ferrari faces in unlocking the pace needed to fight at the front is no different to many of its competitors: it is in getting a clear picture of just what McLaren has done to unleash so much performance.
"We need to understand what McLaren found," he said. "But we also need to be careful about everything that is going around the team, because sometimes that, I think, can change the perception of someone's season.
"I think McLaren is doing an outstanding job. We are absolutely not happy in the situation we are in at the moment. However, I feel like we just need to find ourselves, just like Mercedes, and just like Red Bull, the outstanding thing that McLaren have found."
Leclerc's stance on the McLaren comparison was backed by Mercedes driver George Russell in an answer that began as a reflection on why his former team-mate Lewis Hamilton is struggling at Ferrari at present but then expanded onto how anyone not in a McLaren is having a tough time right now.
"For all of us, unless you're in the orange car, at the moment the chance of victory is slim," said Russell.
"For all of us it's frustrating. It's frustrating for me, it's frustrating for Leclerc.
"Charles is such a great driver as well and hasn't properly had a shot at a championship, maybe in 2022 slightly. But that's the nature of this sport."
Change makes no sense
Leclerc thinks it important Ferrari ignores all the media speculation around the team right now – although that is something he has got well used to at Maranello.
"Obviously, there are times where you get more rumours to deal with, because the questions are obviously directed into certain topics," he said. "And it's not always a nice thing to do, but I understand it.
"At the end of the day, that's how Ferrari is and has always been. So you've got to deal with it, but I don't think we are affected by it."
And, as team-mate Hamilton suggested on Thursday, it would make no sense for Ferrari to make a team boss change now ahead of a 2026 campaign that could offer a lot of opportunity.
"We surely have a vision that we share - us three: Fred, Lewis and myself - in order to try and get back to winning," he said.
"We've been working to put that all together. And so, yeah, this is for sure, our plan, and I think we shall stick to it."
