“Ferrari will be even stronger here”: Red Bull advisor confused at the gap with rivals after the Canadian GP FP2 session

Red Bull advisor Dr. Helmut Marko feels that the Circuit Gilles Villeneuve will be a strong track for Ferrari as far as the weekend has shown for the 2023 edition of the F1 Canadian Grand Prix.

While Red Bull are in their domination era, Ferrari has taken quite a hit in transforming from the previous season to now, and hence, it has been hard for them to remain competitive with the top runners in most races.

However, Dr. Marko mentioned to Servus TV after the first two practice sessions that the gap between them and other teams is 'confusing.'

"I think the gap is a bit confusing. The track became much faster towards the end. We did a long run there," Marko said.

He also mentioned that Charles Leclerc had quite some pace in his Scuderia:

"But nevertheless: We have some work to do in the car. The car is too restless. The long run was a bit better, but Leclerc was very fast there too - or at least as fast as us. So there is a lot to do. Ferrari will be even stronger here. You could see that. They were out at about the same time as we were. And Leclerc's long run in particular was very impressive."

After the second practice session of the Canadian GP, it was Lewis Hamilton who emerged on the top, followed by his teammate George Russell. Ferrari marked their presence with Carlos Sainz on P3. Since Red Bull were then running longer stints, their drivers were P6 and P8. All in all, the pace of the top two teams in the session was quite impressive.

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Ferrari shows impressive pace at the end of all practice sessions

Ferrari are expected to be stronger after how the start to this season has gone, and they have been showing positive signs on the circuit of the Canadian GP. The third practice session, which was drenched with rain, was dominated by the RB19 of Max Verstappen, however, Leclerc in his Ferrari made quite a mark.

He was the second fastest at the end of the session while being just 0.291 seconds slower than the double-world champion on top. This is quite an impressive time owing to how far they have been up until now.

Charles Leclerc during the final practice session of the Canadian GP (Photo by Clive Mason/Getty Images)

Meanwhile, Carlos Sainz had to go through disappointment after crashing his SF-23. Going into turn 1, there was very less grip because of the wet track and drivers faced issues bringing up the temperature in the intermediate tires. After trying to turn in, the Spaniard lost control of his car and crashed out, damaging his front wing, suspension, and rear wing.

The damage is expected to be fixed by the time others get ready for the qualifying session, where a raw sense of pace will be experienced.