Last weekend’s Singapore GP was like a breath of fresh air for Formula 1 fans. After the robotic domination that Max Verstappen and Red Bull dished out; at the Marina Bay Circuit, the Bulls finally faltered. That meant that Verstappen’s historic 10-race winning streak came to an end. In came Ferrari swooping in as they dominated the race with Carlos Sainz. However, while Charles Leclerc struggled to get a result last week, this weekend is also already written off.

No one expected Red Bull to struggle this weekend. Even though the Singapore Grand Prix was an alarming fall from grace for the Dutch lion, it was nothing but an anomaly. The 2x champion confirmed this hypothesis with a stonking pole lap at the 2023 Japanese GP Qualifying session. And as expected, back at the Ferrari camp, their 2 seconds of glory have come crashing down.

Charles Leclerc accepts defeat with a wry smile

Leclerc and the SF-23, in general, were more than half a second off Verstappen’s ultimate pace today. It would’ve been a bitter pill to swallow for the Monegasque after the promise of just last week. But after he squandered his golden opportunity, today, he could only look on and lament his fate.

After Qualifying, Leclerc was quoted as saying in the media pen, “Well, I think Max [Verstappen] will make his own race in another category,” when asked about his chances tomorrow. The grim reality set in as the reporter commented, “The usual Max is back,” to which Leclerc wryly replied, “Exactly.”

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Catching Verstappen may be a herculean task for Leclerc, but Ferrari are doing everything possible to make it happen.

Leclerc gives verdict on Ferrari’s push towards Red Bull

Stagnation is death in F1. And the Scuderia knows this. At the 2023 Japanese GP, the team from Maranello doesn’t want to rest on their laurels from Singapore and has brought an upgrade package to Suzuka sporting a new floor.

After driving it to fruition during the practice sessions, Leclerc gave feedback on the new parts. He was quoted by Sky Sports F1 as relaying, “[The new floor] did what we expected it to do which gave us a little bit of consistency which was good to see. I don’t think there was a lot of performance into it but let’s wait and see, we keep learning about this car.”

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For what Leclerc and Ferrari lacked in single-lap pace can the duo make up for with race pace tomorrow at the Japanese Grand Prix?