Ferrari saw itself recovering significantly in Azerbaijan after a string of poor performances. However, Charles Leclerc ‘isn’t happy’ with the development and instead gives a reality check to Ferrari fans by claiming that they are not so good in race pace. He even ranks Aston Martin above Ferrari in that regard.
Despite getting a podium, Leclerc thinks Ferrari has a lot of work to do. In both qualifying sessions, Leclerc guaranteed pole positions for his team, which is impressive but not enough for the title fight.
“[We] got closer, maybe a little bit, but we are still very far behind in race pace at least [compared to Red Bull], and I also think that we are behind Aston Martin in terms of race pace,” said Leclerc during a post-race interview as per Formu1a.uno.
Third in the main race today. Nothing we could have done more.
Thank you for the support and see you in Miami 🇺🇸 pic.twitter.com/8MopdSIIm3— Charles Leclerc (@Charles_Leclerc) April 30, 2023
Charles Leclerc says six points didn’t represent his car’s ability
Leclerc had the worst start to a season with Ferrari after he could only collect six points from the first three races. On the other hand, his rival, Max Verstappen, had amassed 69 points in the same time frame.
Therefore, it was a worrisome concern for Ferrari. However, Leclerc thinks that the underwhelming start didn’t represent the actual caliber of the team.
View this post on Instagram
Leclerc also adds that Ferrari is probably inferior to Red Bull and Aston Martin in race pace. However, his team deserves more points going into every race this season.
No point aiming for the title
Ferrari is almost 118 points behind Red Bull in the constructors’ standings. So, toppling their rivals from the Milton-Keynes won’t be an easy task, and seeing Red Bull’s pace every weekend, it seems pretty tough to catch them.
Therefore, Ferrari would have to take their upward trajectory to an extreme level if it intended to aim for the championship. But that kind of development is hard to do in the era of cost caps.
So, Ferrari can’t realistically vie for the championship for at least this year. What they can do is fight Aston Martin and Mercedes for the P2 in the final standings of the season.
