Despite completely dominating Formula 1 for over a year, Red Bull chief Helmut Marko recently admitted fear of losing out to Ferrari at their home race in Austria. However, Ferrari star Charles Leclerc has clearly shown that he is not the one to be fooled by Marko’s bluff.
Marko’s comments come after Ferrari made a massive recovery in Canada. The Red Bull advisor stated that Ferrari was the fastest on compounds in Montreal and even took a sigh of relief saying, “Thank god Ferrari had to start so far back.”
At Circuit Gilles Villeneuve, Leclerc started the race from P10 while his teammate Carlos Sainz started the race from P11. In a rare show of correct strategic implementation, the Monegasque finished P5 followed by his teammate in P6. Furthermore, in the aftermath of the race, the team acknowledged that their speed was good. Nevertheless, Leclerc understands that Ferrari is still far from what it wants and snubbed Marko’s claims about Verstappen not having a great race at the Red Bull Ring.
Charles Leclerc does not believe Helmut Marko’s opinion
When asked about Marko’s comments on Ferrari outperforming Red Bull at their home track, Leclerc said that Marko is a bit optimistic and called out his bluff. “I think these sentences are said like that but I’m not sure he thinks it from the bottom of his heart,” Leclerc further added.
The 80-year-old Austrian advisor had claimed that the Red Bull Ring suits Ferrari well. He explained that Verstappen would be in even more trouble if Leclerc manages to start the race from the front row. But the 25-year-old Ferrari star does not believe Marko.
Leclerc admits that Ferrari’s progress in Canada was in the right direction, but Austria is a completely different track than Montreal. He explained that the team hopes to further its upward trend with the new changes to the SF-23.
Leclerc had a meeting for his ‘beyond the limit mistakes’
In the 2023 season, Leclerc has been struggling to keep up with his teammate. Currently, the Monegasque stands 14 points behind his teammate in P7 and has only secured one podium, coming in Azerbaijan.
Following his subpar performance, Ferrari’s team principal Fred Vasseur has now revealed that it is certain mistakes that Leclerc makes that become a hindrance in his performance. He also revealed that to address these mistakes, Vasseur held a meeting with the Monegasque.
The 55-year-old explained, “Charles, on the other hand, is capable of doing magic in qualifying, of going further. But he sometimes goes beyond the limit, always seeking the maximum even when the car cannot give it. He always wants to win, so he can make mistakes like at the beginning of the season. We talked about it together.”
