Red Bull now has a clear advantage over Ferrari in terms of chassis performance, with McLaren having also markedly improved, Charles Leclerc believes following the Formula 1 Azerbaijan Grand Prix.
Both teams brought significant upgrade packages to Baku, focusing on the sidepods, floor and diffuser – McLaren’s also included a revised engine cover, rear suspension and rear wing while Red Bull’s featured new mirrors and halo. Meanwhile, Ferrari kept its car untouched.
Leclerc narrowly clinched a front-row spot on the grid, outpacing McLaren’s Oscar Piastri by 0.001s and Red Bull’s Isack Hadjar by 0.137s in Q3. However, the Monegasque faded to a distant fifth by lap four; he only finished fourth courtesy of a late mistake by Piastri, who ran deep into Turn 1, and Kimi Antonelli’s qualifying crash meaning he was fighting through the pack after starting 16th.
“It was a bit of a boring race for us,” Leclerc said. “Unfortunately, we had a bad start, which was probably the only thing we could have done much better today. After that, we just had no pace. Compared to the Red Bull, it was very difficult to defend because in the straight line we are too slow.
“We are just struggling with raw pace at the moment.”
He added: “The two Red Bulls were too quick and obviously George [Russell] was too strong as well.”
Team-mate Lewis Hamilton wasn’t as loquacious about Ferrari’s lack of speed. Asked if the Scuderia now had the fourth-fastest car, the seven-time world champion replied: “What’s the importance of that?”
Pressed by Motorsport.com on how unexpected Red Bull’s pace was – after Max Verstappen challenged George Russell for victory despite qualifying 1.6s down while Isack Hadjar was a second slower than the Mercedes in Q3 – Hamilton responded: “I don't really think about anybody else.”
While Leclerc doesn’t think the Baku track suits the Ferrari, the 28-year-old believes the SF-26’s lack of performance this weekend – despite running the ADUO2 power unit again on the #16 car – was down to the rivals' updates.
“McLaren and Red Bull did a step forward with the upgrades they are bringing,” he said. “They have grown recently, they did a step forward that we didn't do. And we must react, because losing some pace now is going to be very difficult to take it back. So hopefully we can react very soon.”
Development is obviously limited by the budget cap and the aerodynamic testing restrictions, but Ferrari has “a few things coming”, Leclerc indicated.
“Whether it's going to be enough to close the gap, not knowing what the others have in store as well is another matter,” he added. “But surely, we've got a few things that should help us do some steps forward.”
Additional reporting by Kemal Sengul
