Charles Leclerc and Carlos Sainz are the ‘biggest problem’ at Ferrari, claims Ralf Schumacher

Ralf Schumacher hits out at Charles Leclerc and Carlos Sainz for the lack of consistency in 2023.

Charles Leclerc and Carlos Sainz are the ‘biggest problem’ at Ferrari, claims Ralf Schumacher

Charles Leclerc and Carlos Sainz

Scuderia Ferrari has failed to win an F1 world title since 2008. The Italian team has consistently lost out on a successful championship bid despite having a competitive car in 2022. Charles Leclerc and Carlos Sainz have made multiple errors in recent times that have hampered Maranello’s prospects. Michael Schumacher’s brother and former F1 driver Ralf Schumacher criticized the Ferrari pairing.

The 47-year-old believed that the Ferrari SF23 is not a race-winning car, but it was better than what is deemed by Leclerc and Sainz. Ralf said, “The car isn’t great. But it’s better than they say.” Schumacher even mentioned the recent mistakes made by the two Ferrari drivers and reckoned that F1 legend Frank Williams would be furious over such a situation.

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He explained, “One driver [Sainz] mis-brakes at the pit entrance, while the other [Leclerc] hardly finishes a fast lap without crashing. Frank Williams would have clipped me around the ears. The trend just isn’t good.” Charles Leclerc crashed in Qualifying at Azerbaijan and Miami GPs as the Monegasque driver pushed in Q3.

The German mentioned Fred Vasseur had taken steps since becoming the Ferrari Team Principal. He stated, “A lot has happened already since he took office.” However, Ralf affirmed that driver inconsistency is perhaps the biggest issue for the Scuderia. He continued, “I see the biggest problem with the drivers. For me, they’re just not consistent enough.”

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The Ferrari team is doing a better job than the drivers, according to Ralf Schumacher

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Charles Leclerc, Miami GP

The former Williams driver slammed Leclerc further as he mentioned that the Monegasque driver might not be mature enough to win the F1 world championship. Ralf Schumacher said, “With his mistakes, Leclerc shows that he either doesn’t have the maturity or maybe, at the end of the day, he’s not consistently good enough to win a world championship for Ferrari.”

Moreover, the former F1 driver stated Carlos Sainz‘s huge pace deficit to his teammate. Ralf said, “And Sainz was eight-tenths away from Leclerc in one weekend.” Lastly, the 47-year-old admitted that Ferrari might be doing better than its promising driver line-up. He concluded, “To be honest, the Ferrari team is currently doing a better job than both drivers.”

Thus, Ralf Schumacher is not shy about targetting Charles Leclerc and Carlos Sainz. Leclerc has made mistakes in the last rounds of the season, while Sainz is nowhere near the front of the grid. Ferrari is often condemned for its politics and strategic errors, but the team also needs its drivers to improve their game. For now, it seems that developing a quicker car is not the only thing needed to be done at Maranello.

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