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Helmut Marko Explains Reason Why Charles Leclerc Failed to Threaten Max Verstappen Despite ‘Powerful Ferrari Engine’

Samriddhi Jaiswal
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Helmut Marko Explains Reason Why Charles Leclerc Failed to Threaten Max Verstappen Despite ‘Powerful Ferrari Engine'

Ferrari’s Charles Leclerc was chasing the podium when he was forced to retire from the opening race of the 2023 season in Bahrain. Meanwhile, his rival Max Verstappen comfortably stormed to victory creating a lead in the championship standings.

Red Bull advisor Helmut Marko has explained the reason for Ferrari’s failure to pose a threat to the Milton-Keynes-based team. The Austrian thinks that the Maranello-squad has the most ‘powerful engine’ on the track in 2023. Still, there is something that the team has not been able to find a solution to.

Despite having the most powerful advantage, both Leclerc and Sainz saw a massive gap to Verstappen. Both the drivers suffered from extreme tyre degradation as compared to their rivals.

Also Read: Max Verstappen Down With Illness; Would Not Make It to Jeddah on Time

Ferrari’s tyre problem has worsened

The Scuderia engineers believe that this is a one-off problem. They think that the reason behind extreme tyre degradation in Bahrain was its sharp asphalt.

But according to Marko, the Italian giant has been suffering from this problem since the 2022 season. The Austrian advisor believes that heading into 2023, the team’s tyre management has worsened.

Furthermore, Marko said that Red Bull had assumed that Ferrari would work on its weaknesses. While the top speed has improved significantly, the problem with tyre wear still persists and has degraded even more as compared to Red Bull.

Helmut Marko ranks 2023 F1 engines

In 2022, Ferrari engines produced the most acceleration in low-speed corners. However, it suffered problems in the high-speed corners as compared to Honda engines.

The new data after the first race of the 2023 season has revealed that the team has figured out that problem. In the third session of the Bahrain qualifying, both Charles Leclerc and Carlos Sainz were seen running an extra 1mph on the main straight as compared to Verstappen and Sergio Perez.

On top of that, the team also had an additional 1.9mph in the high-speed corners.

Marko said that his team does not have an exact PU figure through which they can compare. But information and data gathered have shown that Ferrari is at the top with its powerful PU.

The 79-year-old ranked Honda second and Mercedes pretty much on par.

Also Read: Lewis Hamilton & Max Verstappen Share Bizarre WhatsApp Group With F1 Playboy As the Icon

About the author

Samriddhi Jaiswal

Samriddhi Jaiswal

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Samriddhi Jaiswal is an F1 editor and writer at The SportsRush. She started her career as a business journalist but soon found her calling in lights out here we go! Samriddhi has been a Ferrari fan even when her interaction with F1 was occasional. Her first real experience with the thrilling sport came when Charles Leclerc clinched his iconic victory in Spa and Monza and painted the track red. Now, a Tifosi, Samriddhi is a hardcore fan of the prancing horse and can relate to the chaos within the Italian camp and also admires Ayrton Senna and Michael Schumacher. Off the track, she finds her home in books and musical instruments.

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