Charles Leclerc says Ferrari must look into why they are struggling to keep the softer tyre compounds happy in a race.
Ferrari went into the first ever race day in Miami as favourites for the win, Leclerc starting from pole position with his team-mate Carlos Sainz alongside him on the grid.
Red Bull’s Max Verstappen cleared Sainz just after the start, but during the opening laps Leclerc appeared to have the pace advantage.
That situation soon changed though when Red Bull told Verstappen that Leclerc was struggling with his front right medium tyre.
Verstappen duly closed in, making the pass on lap 9 – a move Verstappen said made his race as he went on to claim victory.
This was not the first time Red Bull have shown a better ability to manage the softer compounds compared to Ferrari, so with his lead in the Drivers’ Championship over Verstappen now cut to 19 points Leclerc knows Ferrari need to come up with an answer.
Asked during the post-race press conference if a response from Ferrari is now needed, Leclerc told reporters: “In a race we need to, especially on the softer compounds, on the medium, soft, it seems it’s been already two races that in terms of race pace they (Red Bull) seem a bit stronger and to manage those tyres better.
“Then in qualifying, we always managed to put those tyres in the right window, which helps us. But on the long runs, we struggle a bit more compared to them.
“On the mediums, we struggled a little bit after five, six laps with the front tyres and then… yeah, we struggled and basically lost the race in that stint, losing the lead and then losing quite a bit of race time there because of the front degradation.
“We need to look at that and be on top of it for the next race. Apart from that, I think on the hards we were very competitive, or at least as competitive as Max.”
Leclerc was presented with an opportunity to attack Verstappen later in the race, with a collision between Pierre Gasly and Lando Norris…
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