Charles Leclerc admits Ferrari’s lack of straight-line speed vs. Red Bull is their main “weakness” after the opening two races.
The Monegasque has enjoyed epic multi-lap tussles with Max Verstappen at both races so far in 2022, coming out on top in Bahrain before settling for second in Saudi Arabia.
However, Leclerc has been forced to use clever tactics against the Dutchman when wheel-to-wheel because the Ferrari just can’t resist the top speeds of the RB18.
“I think the point where we struggled most is whenever Max got the DRS basically because our weaknesses were just bigger, the straight-line speed difference was much bigger,” Charles explained.
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“We were still quick in the corners but not enough to have that margin to cover. So from that moment onwards, it was a bit more difficult for us.
“We are working very well as a team. I think the only thing would have been a lower downforce level.”
Leclerc also admits that Verstappen has now wised up the game he played both in Bahrain and Jeddah of backing off in the first DRS zone to then repass in the second.
“It worked once and then the second time he understood so he braked very early. It was fun, I like the racing like this – the new regulations are definitely working.”
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The battle for DRS between @Charles_Leclerc and @Max33Verstappen ?#SaudiArabianGP #F1 pic.twitter.com/8PaKNs8COP
— Formula 1 (@F1) March 28, 2022
In the Saudi battle, Red Bull urged Verstappen to be patient against Leclerc believing the Ferrari was using up its tyres in the sweeping first sector where he had a strong advantage.
But the 24-year-old doesn’t think the outcome would have been different had he held back.
“For the tyre management, I don’t think we did anything wrong there,” Leclerc said. “I don’t think it is the reason why we lost a win.
“They were consistent, but the first run was a bit more difficult. I think we did a great job by managing those mediums because it wasn’t easy following Checo [Sergio Perez].
“But towards the end, we actually had quite a good pace on those mediums. Then on the hard, it felt nice whenever I had a little bit of margin – I felt like I could keep the gap to Max.”