Charles Leclerc feels it is “too early” for Ferrari “to commit to SF-23 concept change”. Charles on possible SF-23 concept change.

In terms of their 2023 Formula 1 car, Scuderia Ferrari Monegasque driver Charles Leclerc believes that the Maranello team in fact didn’t perform poorly, but rather the Ferrari man acknowledges that Red Bull has taken a significant leap forward this championship, unlike the rest of the teams.

Following a promising start to the 2022 Formula 1 campaign, with the Monegasque securing two race wins from the first three races, the Italian side’s title challenge gradually faded due to power unit technical failures and a series of poor strategy calls. However, there were high expectations that the SF-23 would be the single-seater able to propel either Charles Leclerc or Carlos Sainz to Ferrari’s first Drivers’ Championship since Kimi Raikkonen won back in 2007.

Yet after the first five rounds of the current championship, the Italian side has only secured one podium finish, courtesy of Charles Leclerc at the Baku City circuit in Azerbaijan, while on the other hand Red Bull has clinched four one-two finishes, with either Max Verstappen or Sergio Perez poised to claim the championship title in 2023.

Instead of vying for the top spot, Scuderia Ferrari finds itself in a battle for second place against Aston Martin and Mercedes. Interestingly, each team seems to take turns in challenging Red Bull as their closest competitors in any given race, although it is clear that at this stage no team is able to actually defeat the Austrian side.

According to Charles Leclerc, the reason for the gap between the Maranello team and Red Bull is simply that the latter has done a superior job in terms of development, despite the Italian side meeting their objectives during the winter in view of the 2023 Formula 1 campaign.

Show your support for Scuderia Ferrari with official merchandise collection! Click here to enter the F1 online Store and shop securely! And also get your F1 tickets for every race with VIP hospitality and unparalleled insider access. Click here for the best offers to support Charles and Carlos from the track!

“Well, honestly, the car [is] doing exactly what we expected it to do, so it’s not like we did a bad job [or] we didn’t arrive to our expectations. But unfortunately, Red Bull did twice [as much of] a step compared to us, so I think it’s more where we fixed the targets than anything else. There are a few things that we’ve realised that should look much better for the future, and that gives me confidence for the future, and now I understand a bite more why we are here now. I’m confident for the future, probably not for the short-term, because the gap to Red Bull is significant, but I am sure that we will come back.” – the Monegasque driver explained in a recent interview, when asked about the performance difference between Ferrari and Red Bull.

“I don’t want to give a timeframe, but we’ll work as hard as possible for it to be quickly as possible. For the car concept, we are looking into it, and it is still too early to take conclusions out of it. It hasn’t worked the way we wanted, but that doesn’t mean we need to change completely from now. But we have some ideas on where we need to work on [to catch Red Bull].” – Charles Leclerc concluded.