Schumacher’s Intriguing Theory on Why Charles Leclerc is Outperforming Sebastian Vettel

Recently, former F1 driver Ralf Schumacher spoke to Sky Sports about Sebastian Vettel. He drew a comparison between his compatriot and the Monegasque driver, Charles Leclerc.

Schumacher believes that he has an idea as to why Leclerc is outpacing a driver of Vettel’s caliber.

According to him, Sebastian Vettel has not helped his own case with his unusually high error rate. Admittedly, a 4-time World Champion should not be spinning right after the lights go out.

More importantly, Schumacher explained how Vettel hasn’t adapted his driving style to modern F1 cars. It’s no secret that Vettel prefers cars with a planted rear and higher downforce package.

“Since the power is lacking compared to last year, Ferrari has to compromise in order not to lose so much speed on the straights compared to the competition.

“The Reds have to drive with less aerodynamics, which means that the rear is not as stable. Sebastian can’t handle that at all! Charles, on the other hand, finds it easier to deal with such adversities than Sebastian.

“Leclerc belongs to a generation of racing drivers who are given a car in the junior series that they have to deal with. These standard cars have certain problems that a racing driver has to live with,” explained Ralf.

To make matters worse, his overall pace on both Silverstone weekends was far below that of his teammate’s. In addition to that, his pit stop and tire strategy also played a major role in his downfall.

In all honesty, the entire atmosphere in the Sebastian Vettel camp is at an all-time low. Vettel knows that he can butter no parsnips, and is becoming more and more critical, especially on public forums.

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What else did Schumacher say about Sebastian Vettel?

In a column on Sky Sports, Ralf Schumacher wrote, “I understand emotionally because he feels that he has been treated unfairly. But he must also be aware that this does not necessarily motivate his team to better support him and change things. Especially because he is also slower than Charles.”

In the wake of so much criticism, Ferrari may advise Sebastian Vettel to buck up and drive better than his teammate. Last weekend, Charles Leclerc dominated his older colleague in all sessions and practically had his number.

According to Ralf, Vettel is doing himself a disservice and making Charles Leclerc look like a better and more elegant driver. He is also burning a number of bridges with his accusatory statements, thus blowing the doors wide open for Leclerc.

Of course, there are suggestions that Scuderia Ferrari is knowingly undermining Vettel in order to prop up Leclerc. However, Ralf Schumacher is not convinced, because the team has no reason to make one car worse than the other.

This is because the Constructors’ Championship is far more important than the Drivers’ Championship. For that, they need both cars to perform consistently, and ‘sabotaging’ one driver in favor of another makes no sense.