“We were a bit better on our tyres at the end of the race so I could get into DRS [drag reduction system] and we had a good fight into turn two.”

Leclerc said it had been a struggle with the tyre degradation at the end but was confident Ferrari would come back stronger on Sunday in front of their army of red-shirted home “tifosi”.

“It’s only the sprint race and we’ll learn from this to be better tomorrow,” he said.

“It felt like we damaged the tyres a bit more, especially the front right for some reason. So, we’ll focus on that for tomorrow’s race.”

Champions Mercedes had an afternoon to forget, with George Russell finishing 11th and losing second place in the standings, while seven-time world champion Lewis Hamilton was 14th – one place lower than where he started.

“We’re obviously not fighting for this championship,” Hamilton told Sky Sports television.

“But we’re fighting to understand the car and improve and progress through the year. That’s all we can hope for right now.”

Magnussen’s Haas teammate Mick Schumacher ensured he starts in 10th place, with a chance of securing his first point.

The safety car was brought out on lap two when Alfa Romeo’s Chinese rookie Guanyu Zhou and Alpha Tauri’s Pierre Gasly got in a tangle.

Zhou crashed out and will start from the pit lane on Sunday while Gasly ended up 17th, ahead of the Williams pair of Alex Albon and Nicholas Latifi.