Ferrari: Red Bull advantage is only around 0.2 seconds
Ferrari believes its deficit to Red Bull is only around 0.2 seconds per lap, as it sets about closing the gap to its Formula 1 rival.
An upgrade package that Red Bull introduced at the Emilia Romagna Grand Prix, which revolved around aero tweaks and weight reduction, appears to have given the team a pace advantage.
Verstappen dominated the Imola weekend, despite a poor start in the sprint, and triumphed again in Miami last weekend to further close down the early points advantage that Charles Leclerc had opened up.
Ferrari has so far held back on introducing any upgrades but is expected to bring its first major development package for the next race in Spain.
But while Red Bull appears to have gained momentum in its championship charge, Ferrari team principal Mattia Binotto insists he is not too alarmed by the situation.
“In terms of performance assessments, and how much they [Red Bull] developed compared to us, is that a concern? I would say not,” he said.
“I don't think that the difference is huge. It is a matter of maximum a couple of tenths and we should not forget that [in Miami] we locked the front row.
“In qualifying we had a better performance compared to the Red Bull, so overall, in a weekend, I don't think there is much difference between the Red Bull and the Ferrari.
“If there is a concern, it is how much they are developing considering the budget gap. But more than a concern, maybe it is a hope because at some stage they will need to stop.”
As well as there being a small pace difference between the Ferrari and the Red Bull, the biggest contrast is actually in how the two cars achieve their lap time.
The Red Bull has typically been faster on the straights, while Ferrari has enjoyed the edge in corners.
However, Leclerc thinks that Ferrari perhaps needs to dig deep into understanding why its tyre degradation now appears to be worse than Red Bull when early on it had been a key strength.
“In a race especially on the softer compounds, the medium and the soft, it seems that it's been already two races that in terms of race pace, they seem to be a bit stronger and managing those tyres better,” he said.
“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.”
Related video
Norris: McLaren needs ‘a little bit more’ to fight Mercedes, Alfa Romeo
How F1 race leaders have now lost their comfort blanket
Aston Martin: CFD data shows F1 rear wing does not hurt rules intent
Aston Martin says simulation data it gave to the FIA proved that its radical rear wing idea did not scupper the intent of Formula 1's 2023 rules to improve racing.
When Indycar conquered F1 - Monzanapolis
Imagine a race between the best of Formula 1 and Indycar drivers.
The strange tyre travails faced by F1’s past heroes
Modern grand prix drivers like to think the tyres they work with are unusually difficult and temperamental. But, says MAURICE HAMILTON, their predecessors faced many of the same challenges – and some even stranger…
US fan demand can support "many more" F1 races, says COTA chief
The boss of the Circuit of The Americas believes there is enough demand from North American Formula 1 fans to support “many more” races in the United States.
The strange tyre travails faced by F1’s past heroes
Modern grand prix drivers like to think the tyres they work with are unusually difficult and temperamental. But, says MAURICE HAMILTON, their predecessors faced many of the same challenges – and some even stranger…
The returning fan car revolution that could suit F1
Gordon Murray's Brabham BT46B 'fan car' was Formula 1 engineering at perhaps its most outlandish. Now fan technology has been successfully utilised on the McMurtry Speirling at the Goodwood Festival of Speed, could it be adopted by grand prix racing once again?
Hamilton's first experience of turning silver into gold
The seven-time F1 champion has been lumbered with a duff car before the 2022 Mercedes. Back in 2009, McLaren’s alchemists transformed the disastrous MP4-24. And now it’s happening again at his current team
Why few would blame Leclerc if he leaves Ferrari in future
OPINION: Ferrari's numerous strategy blunders, as well as some of his own mistakes, have cost Charles Leclerc dearly in the 2022 Formula 1 title battle in the first half of the season. Though he is locked into a deal with Ferrari, few could blame Leclerc if he ultimately wanted to look elsewhere - just as Lewis Hamilton did with McLaren 10 years prior.
The other McLaren exile hoping to follow Perez's path to a top F1 seat
After being ditched by McLaren earlier in his F1 career Sergio Perez fought his way back into a seat with a leading team. BEN EDWARDS thinks the same could be happening to another member of the current grid
How studying Schumacher helped make Coulthard a McLaren F1 mainstay
Winner of 13 grands prix including Monaco and survivor of a life-changing plane crash, David Coulthard could be forgiven for having eased into a quiet retirement – but, as MARK GALLAGHER explains, in fact he’s busier than ever, running an award-winning media company and championing diversity in motor racing. Not bad for someone who, by his own admission, wasn’t quite the fastest driver of his generation…
Could F1 move to a future beyond carbon fibre?
Formula 1 has ambitious goals for improving its carbon footprint, but could this include banishing its favoured composite material? Pat Symonds considers the alternatives to carbon fibre and what use, if any, those materials have in a Formula 1 setting
The traits that fuelled Alonso's unexpected Aston Martin F1 move
Fernando Alonso’s bombshell switch to Aston Martin sent shockwaves through Formula 1, not least at Alpine that finds itself tangled in a contract standoff with Oscar Piastri. Not shy of a bold career move and with a CV punctuated by them, there were numerous hints that trouble was brewing.