F1 Miami GP: Charles Leclerc admits only a ‘miracle’ could help Ferrari match Red Bull

Charles Leclerc convinced that Red Bull are in a league of their own despite new Ferrari upgrades.

F1 Miami GP: Charles Leclerc admits only a ‘miracle’ could help Ferrari match Red Bull

Charles Leclerc

Charles Leclerc headed into the Miami GP weekend after bagging pole position and a podium at the previous race in Baku. Yet, the 25-year-old had insisted that Ferrari would stay a step behind arch-rivals Red Bull at the fifth race of the season. The Monegasque driver crashed out during FP2 on Friday despite finishing P3 on the timesheets. Now, Leclerc has admitted that the Scuderia is no match for the Milton-Keynes team.

After the first day of the race weekend, Charles acknowledged that Ferrari could not out-pace Red Bull without a miracle. He said, “In terms of race pace, I don’t think we have any miracle in hand to close the gap.” The Monegasque driver mentioned that the Scuderia will not bridge the gap with the Austrian team over the course of the weekend. Leclerc continued, “I don’t think we will be much closer [to Red Bull].”

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Although, the 25-year-old was satisfied with Ferrari’s single-lap pace. Unfortunately, Maranello did not have an answer when it came to race pace. Charles Leclerc explained, “The feeling is pretty good over one lap. But in the race, we are so far behind Red Bull, who are in a league of their own.”

Subsequently, Charles reaffirmed that the Italian team has managed to match Red Bull in Qualifying. He said, “In the race, we definitely have a lot of time to find. But in qualifying pace, we are more or less there.” Max Verstappen and Sergio Perez will remain the favorites for the 2023 Miami GP.

Discover: F1 Miami GP: When and where to watch the fifth race of the 2023 season?

Charles Leclerc blames “poor grip” for FP2 incident

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Leclerc, after colliding with the barriers during FP2 on Friday

Charles Leclerc lost his rear end at Turn 7 during the second practice session on Friday. As the Monegasque driver lost control and ended up in the barriers. Leclerc cited the lack of grip for this incident. He stated, “Overall, it is very tricky because there’s only one line and whenever you get offline, there’s really poor grip.”

The 25-year-old admitted pushing his car too far into the corner and losing control as the SF23 entered the barriers. Luckily, the new upgrades are intact despite this collision. Leclerc said, “Basically that is what happened. I pushed too much, lost the rear trying to recover from it but I had no room to turn the car, so that was it, but there’s no big damage.”

The Monegasque driver described the acquired damage from the incident. Leclerc was relieved to find the rear of the car undamaged. He concluded, Obviously, the right front is gone, but apart from that, there was no damage to the rear of the car, which is the most important, and tomorrow is another day, and I am sure it will go well.”

Thus, Charles Leclerc has admitted that Ferrari is still too far to match Red Bull in the races. Although the recent update package has helped the team’s prospects, there is still work to be done back at Maranello. The 25-year-old will be looking for a trouble-free time through the rest of the weekend after his incident on Friday.

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