After falling short of Red Bull in the first part of the 2022 Formula 1 season, Ferrari has fallen behind the Milton Keynes team and, in particular, the leader of the drivers’ standings, Max Verstappen. The Dutchman dominated at Spa-Francorchamps thanks to his great top speed, but also at Zandvoort, where downforce matters more than air resistance and where Prancing Horse ‘s men should have done better.
That is why Charles Leclerc fears that this weekend’s Italian Grand Prix will once again be a repeat of what happened in Belgium, given that the Monza track benefits those cars with the best lead.
“I think it’s going to be a bit of a tough race, at least on paper it’s going to be,” he told the official FIA news conference on Thursday. “We hope that Red Bull will be stronger, the characteristics of the circuit do not suit our cars.”
“However, again, we’ve had some good and bad surprises this year, so let’s hope this is one of the good ones and that we perform better than expected,” said the Ferrari driver.
Although the Monegasque thinks it’s “difficult to know” if the Maranello team’s deficit on the straights is due to a difference in power or aerodynamic efficiency, he believes that any advantage his team can achieve in the low and medium speed corners in Monza will not be able to make up for the large amount of lap time they will lose on the long straights.
“I think compared to Red Bull, especially because they are more consistent throughout the year, we are slower down the straights,” he added. “Their main strength this season is top speed, it seems we are a bit quicker in the corners, but on circuits like this, it’s not enough to regain the advantage they have on the straights.”
“Compared to Red Bull, I think that will be the case this weekend. If we compare ourselves to Mercedes, it is difficult to make predictions for the grand prix because they have had ups and downs,” said the Monaco driver, who is second in the standings. pilots, tied on 201 points with Sergio Pérez.
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