Scuderia Ferrari Monegasque driver Charles Leclerc admitted that the Maranello team has to look into why they are struggling with soft and medium tyres as compared to rivals Red Bull, which has led to defeats in the last two rounds of the 2022 Formula 1 season.
Scuderia Ferrari was hoping to capitalize on the strong performance in the qualifying session for the 2022 Miami Grand Prix, as Charles Leclerc started from pole position with his team-mate Carlos Sainz alongside him on the front row. However, Red Bull’s Max Verstappen passed the Spanish driver in Turn 1 and was then able to keep up with the Monegasque driver, despite the fact that during the opening laps Charles seemed to have the pace advantage.
That situation unfortunately soon changed after nine laps, as the Dutchman was informed via team radio that the Ferrari driver was encountering difficulties with his front right medium tyre: the 2021 F1 world champion duly closed in, making the pass on lap 9 – a move that proved decisive for his race win at the Miami International Autodrome.
And it was not the first time Red Bull proved to have a better ability to manage the softer compounds as compared to the Maranello team. Charles Leclerc’s lead in the Drivers’ Championship over Max Verstappen has been reduced to just 19 points, which means the Italian side needs to come up with an answer ahead of the Spanish Grand Prix.
Asked during the post-race press conference if a response from Ferrari is now needed, Charles Leclerc told explained: “In a race we need to, especially on the softer compounds, on the medium, soft, it seems it’s been already two races that in terms of race pace they (Red Bull) seem a bit stronger and to manage those tyres better. Then in qualifying, we always managed to put those tyres in the right window, which helps us. But on the long runs, we struggle a bit more compared to them. On the mediums, we struggled a little bit after five, six laps with the front tyres and then… yeah, we struggled and basically lost the race in that stint, losing the lead and then losing quite a bit of race time there because of the front degradation. We need to look at that and be on top of it for the next race. Apart from that, I think on the hards we were very competitive, or at least as competitive as Max.” – the Ferrari driver added, at the end of the Miami Grand Prix.
While Max Verstappen seemed to had for an easy win in the final laps, Charles Leclerc was in fact presented with an unexpected opportunity to fight for the race win after an incident between Pierre Gasly and Lando Norris led to a Safety Car period.
Both Charles Leclerc and Max Verstappen were informed not to pit for new tyres and after the restart, the Monegasque driver was able to put pressure on the Dutchman for a few laps, but the Red Bull driver eventually pulled out of DRS range, winning the Miami Grand Prix by 3.8 seconds in the end.
“After the Safety Car I really thought we would have a shot to actually take back the lead, but it wasn’t enough. But yeah, it’s like this again – I think we will have to analyse the end of the run on the mediums, which is the weak point of this race.” – he continued.
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One other factor that is not helping the F1-75 car in the fights with Red Bull is the straight line, which meant that even with DRS Charles was not able to attempt an overtaking move on his rival. Ferrari expected the F1-75 to gain more in the slower corners but, again with that medium tyre, Charles Leclerc was surprised to see that perceived strength disappear.
After Max Verstappen had joked “the colour” was the biggest difference between the Red Bull and Ferrari cars, Charles Leclerc replied: “Yeah, the colour. The straight-line speed also a little bit. But again, I think it’s just the characteristics of both cars. Red Bull are quite quick on a straight, we are quite quick in the medium and high speed – but today I have to say I was quite surprised we were struggling quite a bit more than them in the slow-speed corners. So that was also a weakness on the medium tyres and we need to look at that.” – the Ferrari driver concluded.
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