Max Verstappen confesses that Ferrari is not slower than Red Bull and the point difference against Charles Leclerc is bigger than it should be.
This year, the fight for the championship between Charles Leclerc and Max Verstappen took at a very high level. But with time, the Dutchman managed to edge past his contemporary.
At the latest Grand Prix, Verstappen has now amassed a concrete lead of 63 points over the Monegasque. Thus, it could be easy for the current world champion to defend his title if things go as it is.
But Verstappen believes that Ferrari is still very quick and it’s no time to be complacent. He also claims that his lead over Leclerc is more than what it should have been at this stage.
“People are bringing upgrades and sometimes that also helps tyre degradation,” said Verstappen in the post-race FIA press conference. “Today even with them sliding around a bit, they were still very quick in front of us. So it just shows that they have a very quick car.
“From our side, we know that we have to find, especially over one lap, quite a bit of performance. But we’ll be working on it. It’s still very important to always score points even on a bad day, which we did in Austria.”
“Of course the lead we have is great, but it’s probably a bit bigger than what it should have been when you look at the car performance between the two cars.”
Also read: Charles Leclerc has lost whopping 75 points from winning positions in the 2022 season so far
Charles Leclerc finds fault in himself
On the other hand, when Leclerc crashed at Paul Ricard, the anger in his voice was apparent. The 24-year-old driver screamed loudly on the radio when his car didn’t remain good enough to continue.
Leclerc in an interview after the crash took the blame for the crash. Moreover, he also admitted that if he loses the championship by 20-30 points, he’ll know that he lost the championship in France.
A brutally honest assessment by Charles Leclerc on his championship chances 😔💔#FrenchGP #F1 pic.twitter.com/57dzh8oHaJ
— Formula 1 (@F1) July 24, 2022
With only the last 10 races to go, Leclerc can still relinquish his shot at the title. But for that Ferrari has to be flawless and Red Bull will have to make blunders with Verstappen, both haven’t happened for a long time this season.
