“We don’t have any miracle in hand to close the gap” - Charles Leclerc concedes defeat to Red Bull supremacy

Ferrari driver Charles Leclerc admitted that his team does not have the pace to match Red Bull once again in Miami.

Despite some upturn in their performance and form, the Italian team is still very much behind the reigning world champions in race pace. This was evident from the two previous races, in Baku and FP2 in Miami. Leclerc was half a second slower per lap during the long runs in FP2 compared to the Austrian team.

As per RacingNews365, he said:

"In terms of race pace, I don't think we have any miracle in hand to close the gap. I don't think we will be much closer [to Red Bull]. The feeling is pretty good over one lap, but in the race, we are so far behind Red Bull, who are in a league of their own. In the race, we definitely have a lot of time to find, but in qualifying pace, we are more or less there."

Charles Leclerc explains his tough experience in FP2 session

Charles Leclerc in F1 Grand Prix of Miami - Final Practice

The Monegasque driver hit the barriers in Turn 7 after getting a tank slapper and was unable to control the car in the FP2 session.

Explaining the limitations of the track and the damage to the car, Charles Leclerc said:

"Overall, it is very tricky because there's only one line and whenever you get offline, there's really poor grip. Basically, that is what happened: I pushed too much, lost the rear trying to recover from it but I had no room to turn the car, so that was it, but there's no big damage.

"Obviously, the right front is gone, but apart from that, there was no damage to the rear of the car, which is the most important, and tomorrow is another day, and I am sure it will go well."

Charles Leclerc had another crash in Q3 of the qualifying session in Miami, leaving him in the barriers once again in Turn 7. The crash caused damage to the Ferrari driver's rear wing and meant that he will start the race from P7.

With Max Verstappen starting P9, it will be interesting to see if Charles Leclerc can move forward and hold the reigning double-world champion behind in the race on Sunday. Given the race pace, Verstappen will have a clear advantage over the rest of the grid and will like to quickly move through the pack and fight against his teammate.