Mercedes dominated the 2014 F1 season and took it up a notch in 2015 and 2016. The W06 and W07 were different beasts altogether. Red Bull seems to be doing the same thing, albeit on a higher scale than Mercedes did. The RB19 looks to be in a league of its own. It would not be an exaggeration when we say that the RB19 seems to be flying when on a flying lap. Charles Leclerc recently opened up about Red Bull’s impeccable step up as he underplayed Ferrari’s horrific start to the season. But what did the Monegasque say?

After the underwhelming 2022, where Charles Leclerc lost the chance to fight for the championship because of the strategic errors made by Ferrari and the reliability issue, the Monegasque was expected to bring the fight to Max Verstappen. However, the start of the 2023 reality is far from the expectation. To the naked eye, it might look like Ferrari has taken a step back in terms of development. That’s not the case though, as Ferrari has shown glimpses of the raw pace which isn’t fully unlocked yet. Baku is a prime example where Charles Leclerc managed to take the pole. 

The Monegasque explains how the SF23 and the developments made are exactly what Ferrari expected, suggesting how the Scuderia hasn’t done a bad job. It’s just that Red Bull set the expectations really high and was able to out-develop everyone by a huge margin. Praising the work done by Adrian Newey and Co, Leclerc explains how Ferrari needs to up their expectations. 

According to SoyMotor.com. Charles Leclerc said, “Honestly, the car is doing exactly what we expected it to do, so it is not that we have done a bad job or have not reached our expectations. However, unfortunately, Red Bull has taken a step twice as big compared to us, so I think it’s more where we set the goals than anything else. There are some things that we have realized should look much better for the future, and that gives me confidence. Now I understand a little more why we are here right now.”

Read More: Is Home Town Boy Charles Leclerc Unlucky at the Monaco GP?

With Leclerc suggesting that Ferrari understands some areas better now, things look bright for the future. However, Carlos Sainz suggested how tough it is to realize and accept the deficit that Ferrari has when compared to Red Bull.  

Carlos Sainz on the deficit to Red Bull being a hard pill to swallow

With Red Bull developing a rocketship of an RB19, the rest of the grid was left running around like a headless chicken in order to find the huge pace deficit to Red Bull. Carlos Sainz explains how 2022 was a comeback year for Ferrari, with 2023 being the one where they targeted the championship. With expectations of fighting Red Bull for the win, the gap to Red Bull came as a shock, which was hard for the team to swallow. He then added how the team has to go back and start from the ground level up to find that extra pace.

According to the-race.com, Carlos Sainz said, “I feel like we all expected to at least be fighting at a similar level. Not only me, but the whole team had this hope, this expectation. And suddenly finding yourself more than half a second adrift from the Red Bull was tough to handle. You suddenly need to reset, need to go back to the drawing board, and make sure you keep everyone motivated.”

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What do you make of Charles Leclerc underplaying Ferrari’s failure?