Charles Leclerc has admitted that Ferrari underestimated McLaren and Red Bull during the Emilia Romagna Grand Prix at Imola. The Ferrari driver finished in sixth place, behind both McLaren drivers and the Red Bull of Sergio Perez.
Leclerc started the race in fourth place, but struggled with tyre wear and was unable to keep up with the pace of Lando Norris and Daniel Ricciardo from McLaren, as well as Perez from Red Bull. The Monegasque driver admitted that Ferrari had not expected McLaren and Red Bull to be so strong at the circuit.
“We underestimated the pace of McLaren and Red Bull,” Leclerc said after the race. “We thought we would be closer to them, but they were just too quick for us today. We need to analyze what went wrong and see how we can improve for the next race.”
Ferrari had shown strong pace in the opening races of the season, with Leclerc finishing on the podium in Bahrain and Carlos Sainz scoring points in both Bahrain and Imola. However, the team struggled to match the pace of their rivals at the challenging Imola circuit.
Team principal Mattia Binotto echoed Leclerc’s sentiments, saying that Ferrari needed to learn from their mistakes and improve for the next race. “We knew that McLaren and Red Bull were strong competitors, but we did not expect them to be so quick at Imola,” Binotto said. “We need to work harder and find solutions to be more competitive in the upcoming races.”
Despite the disappointing result at Imola, Leclerc remains confident in Ferrari’s potential for the rest of the season. “We have shown that we have the pace to fight at the front, but we need to be more consistent and avoid making mistakes,” he said. “I trust the team to work hard and improve for the next race.”
The next race on the Formula 1 calendar is the Portuguese Grand Prix, which will take place at the Algarve International Circuit on May 2nd. Ferrari will be hoping to bounce back and show their true potential at the race in Portugal.