Charles Leclerc admits ‘I was wrong’ about one Red Bull prediction in the final year of F1’s current regulations

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During Max Verstappen and Red Bull’s dominance in the years succeeding Formula 1’s regulatory overhaul in 2022, it was hard to picture the team falling from their pedestal after being so hard to catch.

Verstappen has won three more consecutive championships since his maiden title in the 2021 season, where he dethroned Lewis Hamilton in controversial fashion at the Yas Marina Circuit in Abu Dhabi.

However, cracks started to appear during the 2024 season, and Red Bull themselves have been dethroned from their stature at the top of F1’s pecking order by McLaren.

Verstappen has lost confidence in key Red Bull figures, and the Dutchman looks certain to miss out on equalling Michael Schumacher’s record of winning a fifth consecutive title.

Red Bull have tried to regain momentum in the current campaign, but the superiority of the McLaren MCL39 has been too much to handle in the opening 14 rounds of the season.

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Charles Leclerc thought ‘everyone would be closer’ in F1’s final year of the current regulations

Speaking to journalists ahead of the Dutch Grand Prix in Zandvoort, Leclerc was reminded of a past statement of his, regarding Red Bull’s dominance in previous years. The Monegasque wasn’t convinced that any team on the grid would be able to catch them.

However, due to McLaren’s emerging supremacy this year in the drivers’ and constructors’ championships, the Ferrari driver has had to eat his words, telling journalists via Formula Passion, “Clearly I was wrong and that’s why I probably won’t use the word ‘impossible’ anymore.

“McLaren proved us all wrong. I think they were the big surprise this year. We all thought we had made a step forward. We all thought that, being the last year of this regulation, everyone would be closer, as was the case with Red Bull, Mercedes and ourselves.

“But McLaren seems to have found something that we haven’t, and you have to give them credit for that. They’ve done an incredible job. Now it’s up to us to do a better job and try to catch up, but obviously it’s a bit late.”

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Charles Leclerc believed Red Bull was too ‘far away’ in performance during the 2023 F1 season

Leclerc’s comments stem from his answer to a question posed to him ahead of the 2023 Dutch Grand Prix.

After the rest of the grid finished 30 seconds behind Max Verstappen at the previous round in Belgium, he was asked if it would be possible for any of Red Bull’s rivals to catch up in the upcoming seasons.

“That’s what we are trying to work towards, but they have a really big margin,” Leclerc told journalists, via RaceFans. “It’s going to be very, very difficult to catch them before the change of regulations.

“It’s different than in the past in the way that in qualifying, we are all much closer than what we have seen. Normally, when we see a team dominating, it is in qualifying and the race. For some reason, with Red Bull, it’s much more in the race than in qualifying.

“The gaps are much bigger in the race than in qualifying, and that’s why we are all working towards our race pace, because Red Bull is just so far ahead.”

Ferrari team principal Fred Vasseur identified the area where McLaren is ‘magic’, noting their superior tyre preservation that has allowed them to eke more performance out of the Pirelli-branded tyres into the latter stages of their stints.