“Come Out and Bang”: Red Bull and Max Verstappen’s “Muhammad Ali” Approach the Standout Factor Against Ferrari’s Charles Leclerc

Charles Leclerc and Ferrari had quite an underwhelming 2022 F1 season. Despite starting the year very strongly, the Monegasque and his team fell well short of their target. As the season has come to an end, a Ferrari executive revealed the mighty ‘Muhammad Ali’ approach by Max Verstappen and Red Bull, which they failed to compete against.

Talking about this, Jock Clear revealed the standout factor where Red Bull took Mr. Ali’s way, which prevented the Maranello-based team from taking their fights to Red Bull. The Ferrari senior performance engineer stated in a report published by Motorsport, “I think that’s probably Red Bull’s strength this year, as they look to have been flexible.”

“There were times when it was a bit of a Muhammad Ali approach. It looked like you’ve got them on the ropes and they just squirm a bit and come out and ‘bang’. And you are like: ‘Oh, my God, where did they find that?’” further asserted the Ferrari executive.

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Max Verstappen and Red Bull were mighty in 2022. A total of 17 wins were what the Austrian team picked up this year, with Verstappen picking up 15 of them. The Milton-Keynes-based team wrapped up both drivers’ and constructors’ titles with the Dutchman, with four and three races to go, respectively.

Ferrari pointed out why they lost against Red Bull in terms of development

Even after starting the 2022 F1 season with brilliant fashion, Scuderia Ferrari fell well short of its destination. After losing out to Red Bull by quite a margin, Mattia Binotto pointed out the slow development process they faced when encountering the Austrian team.

In a report published by Autosport, the former team principal of the Italian team conveyed some factors which proved instrumental as the season went on. He stated, “The first I think that, in terms of development, Red Bull had a clear route.” Binotto then went on to describe the setbacks they faced in terms of the developments against a team who raced with their own Powertrains this year.

“Also, I think if I look back, maybe the development we did was not certainly sufficient. We stopped very early; not only for a choice but because of expenditure reasons. But there are some things that we need to review,” concluded the Italian executive.

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Red Bull outperformed Ferrari significantly in multiple sectors. Even though the Italian team had better statistics in qualifying, it was the race pace that hindered them. Ferrari also struggled with Red Bull on cornering pace, straight-line speed, and porpoising. All in all, it was a season for multiple lessons for Scuderia Ferrari.