Charles Leclerc: “McLaren and Red Bull have made progress that we haven’t matched.”
Following the Formula 1 Azerbaijan Grand Prix, Charles Leclerc believes Red Bull has established a distinct lead over Ferrari in terms of chassis performance, with McLaren also showing notable enhancements.
Both squads introduced substantial upgrade packages in Baku, concentrating on the sidepods, floor, and diffuser. McLaren's upgrades also included a modified engine cover, rear suspension, and rear wing, while Red Bull incorporated new mirrors and a halo. In contrast, Ferrari opted to keep its car unchanged.
Leclerc narrowly secured a front-row position on the starting grid, edging out McLaren’s Oscar Piastri by just 0.001s and Red Bull’s Isack Hadjar by 0.137s in Q3. However, the Monegasque driver slipped back to fifth place by lap four; he managed to finish fourth only because of a late error by Piastri, who overshot Turn 1, and Kimi Antonelli’s qualifying crash, which forced him to fight through the field after starting from 16th.
“It was a bit of a dull race for us,” Leclerc remarked. “Unfortunately, we had a poor start, which was probably the only aspect we could have improved today. After that, we just lacked pace. Defending against the Red Bull was tough because we are too slow in the straight lines.
“We are currently struggling with our raw speed.”
He further stated: “The two Red Bulls were too fast, and obviously George [Russell] was quite strong as well.”
Charles Leclerc, Ferrari
Teammate Lewis Hamilton was less expressive regarding Ferrari's speed deficiencies. When asked if the Scuderia now possessed the fourth-fastest car, the seven-time world champion replied: “What’s the significance of that?”
When pressed by Motorsport.com about how surprising Red Bull’s pace had been—given that Max Verstappen battled George Russell for victory despite qualifying 1.6s slower and Isack Hadjar being a second behind the Mercedes in Q3—Hamilton responded: “I don't really focus on others.”
While Leclerc doesn’t believe the Baku circuit is favorable for the Ferrari, the 28-year-old thinks the SF-26’s underwhelming performance this weekend—despite running the ADUO2 power unit in the #16 car—was attributable to the updates from their competitors.
“McLaren and Red Bull made strides with their upgrades,” he noted. “They have progressed recently, taking steps forward that we have not matched. We need to respond, as losing pace now will be challenging to recover. So hopefully we can react quickly.”
Development is, of course, constrained by the budget cap and the limitations on aerodynamic testing, but Leclerc hinted that Ferrari has “a few things in the pipeline.”
“Whether it will be sufficient to bridge the gap, considering what others might also have planned, is another question,” he added. “However, we do have some developments that should assist us in making advancements.”
Additional reporting by Kemal Sengul
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