Leclerc warns Red Bull: 'Upgrades we are bringing look positive'

Ferrari will start the 2023 season this weekend in Bahrain with a new car, a new team boss and a new top strategic person. Charles Leclerc hopes to compete for victory, although he knows that the Red Bull Racing of Max Verstappen and Sergio Perez looks very competitive.

Ferrari are changing a lot

So within Ferrari, a lot of changes have taken place. Frederic Vasseur certainly pleases as a new recruit. "Fred is really good at extracting the best out of the people by putting them into the best conditions. I can already see some benefits of that. I am sure he will discover more things and will discover how the team works on a race weekend. It feels good and I was impressed how well he got at ease with a big team," Leclerc said. 

Strategic leadership at Ferrari has fallen into the hands of Ravin Jain, while former top executive Inaki Rueda has had to step down. The Spaniard now does his work from Maranello. "There have been a few changes, but I don't want to comment too much on that. We are doing what is best for the team," stated the world championship number two last year. "Fred came and changed a few things. Time will tell if these were the right choices."

Ferrari hope to do better in 2023 compared to last year. "They've [Red Bull] had a strong start, RB and Max seem to be strong. Only testing but it seems like they are a bit in front compared to us. We have some work to do but the goal is to go one better. We didn't show everything. But RB didn't show everything. We will only see in qualifying. It's difficult to know how we are, but the picture tells me we are a bit behind."

Update for Ferrari

Based on the winter tests, Red Bull seem to be several tenths ahead. Leclerc finds it hard to make sense of that. "It's still too early to say [if Red Bull are 1.5 seconds ahead] and also during testing, depending on at what time of the day you are doing the lap times it is very difficult to judge. So we'll wait and see to see how far off we are. I also believe fully in my team and in the upgrades that we are bringing, we have a view of what we are bringing in the next few months and it looks positive," Leclerc said.