Imola Tragedy Serves Another Blow to Charles Leclerc & Co. As Problems Continue to Mount for Struggling Ferrari

Earlier today, news filtered out that the Emilia-Romagna Grand Prix will not go ahead as scheduled for this weekend. The entire Emilia-Romagna region, where the Imola circuit is situated, has been hit by terrible weather and a devastating flood. While all the drivers and teams took this opportunity to lend their voice in solidarity with the people affected, Ferrari and Charles Leclerc have another troublesome weekend to account for, even though they will not enter a race track.

The highly anticipated triple-header was an opportunity for many teams to turn their fortunes around. Massive upgrade packages were to be introduced by the likes of Ferrari, Mercedes, and others. However, with the race now being canceled, these plans are being put on hold. Other teams too will not be able to debut their “game-changing” updates, the Scuderia’s entire triple-header schedule has been derailed by this latest development.

Time is running out for Ferrari

We’re considerably deep into the 2023 Formula 1 season now. The so-called ‘early days’ are now over. Hence, if the teams want to introduce meaningful changes to their cars and figure out what sticks and what doesn’t, then it needs to happen as soon as possible. But with this weekend’s race canceled, Ferrari’s upgrade plans have been dealt with a further two-week-long blow.

According to F1Maximaal.com, “Ferrari is very likely to postpone an update until the Spanish Grand Prix early next month, Autosport reports. The intention was to bring a new rear suspension for next weekend, but due to the heavy rain in Imola, the Italian team does not see this weekend as suitable to try out the update.” 

“The Monaco Grand Prix a week later is also not an option, as this is on a street circuit.” [translated via Google Translate]

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And while Ferrari is forced to waste critical weeks in this uphill battle against Max Verstappen & Co., the Bulls are running away with all the accolades.

Charles Leclerc hit with grim Red Bull reality

This news of the team needing to delay their upgrade package till the Spanish Grand Prix weekend will surely not be greeted by the title aspirant Charles Leclerc. Meanwhile, with the superiority displayed by Red Bull, the chances that anyone will be able to catch up to them this year seems like an impossible dream.

Sky Sports F1 pundit, Karun Chandhok believes, “They have no weakness either. It’s like a cricket team that can bat down to number 10.”

“Somebody was showing me some drag numbers and when they hit the magic button, the Red Bull loses about 24-25 per cent of its drag – this was for the case in Baku – whereas most others are sort of 14-15 per cent, So they’ve just given the drivers free performance. So more often than not they’re going to qualify the front row but even if they don’t, they’re still going come through the pack,” explained Chandhok. 

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Is the Imola delay the final nail in the coffin for Ferrari’s 2023 season?