The Miami Grand Prix will have served as a reality check for Charles Leclerc.
Saturday’s qualifying ended in despair with him spinning off, signalling the end of the session – the hunt for pole foiled.
Leclerc and teammate Carlos Sainz sit fifth and seventh in the driver’s championship. The pair have only managed one podium in five races – and Leclerc mustered up a third-place finish in Azerbaijan.
Former F1 driver and pundit Jolyon Palmer has spoken out on Leclerc’s poor form.
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“For such a talented driver, it’s fair to say he makes a lot of mistakes.
“Leclerc has bemoaned the 2023 Ferrari as being inconsistent with balance, overly wind sensitive and overall tricky to drive, which it might well be, but his driving has also got to be questioned.
“In a car that isn’t as fast as the Red Bull this year, is he searching for lap time that just isn’t there? It seems to me he needs to reset his expectations a little bit.”
But with the Formula 1 championship seemingly out of reach, Leclerc taking risks and driving with aggression could be their only chance to salvage anything from this season.
It’s clear for all to see that Red Bull are the dominant force. They are consistently leaving opponents for dust, ascending to triumph with ease.
Carlos Sainz and Charles Leclerc lament the SF-23
For Ferrari, both drivers have been vocal on their distaste for the SF-23.
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“What we are lacking is consistency from the car,” Leclerc said.
“Not even from corner to corner, just in the same corner I can have a huge oversteery balance and then a huge understeery balance.”
Carlos Sainz had also previously labelled the car “inconsistent and peaky”.
Perhaps criticism towards Leclerc’s driving is misjudged given the lack of title fight in the SF-23.
Caution in an uncompetitive car is likely to result in failure. Nonetheless, one thing is for sure, Martin Brundle and Jolyon Palmer will not agree.