Charles Leclerc reveals surprise over huge gap between Verstappen and Perez

Henry Valantine 14 Aug 2023 2:15 PM

Sergio Perez, Max Verstappen and Charles Leclerc in the press conference.

Max Verstappen is flanked by Sergio Perez and Charles Leclerc in the post-race press conference at Spa-Francorchamps.

Charles Leclerc has admitted his surprise at there being “such a wide margin” between Max Verstappen and Sergio Perez at times at Red Bull this season.

The Red Bull duo shared the opening four races of the season with two wins apiece, but Verstappen has since taken a chokehold on the Drivers’ Championship standings and won eight rounds in a row before the summer break.

Perez has toiled in qualifying in particular in the meantime as his team-mate has sailed to a 125-point lead in the standings, leaving a huge amount of ground for him to make up if he is to stand a chance of getting back in the title hunt.

Charles Leclerc: Red Bull gap ‘greater than I would have expected’ at times

For Ferrari driver Leclerc, who finished third behind the dominant Red Bull duo at Spa-Francorchamps last time out, he admitted his shock at just how much Verstappen has been able to dominate this season, particularly within the Red Bull garage.

The Dutchman took pole on a drying track at Spa by eight tenths of a second from the rest of the field in a mightily impressive lap, which prompted Red Bull motorsport advisor Helmut Marko to claim that he is capable of putting a Haas or AlphaTauri on pole position in mixed conditions.

As for Leclerc, while he admits that Verstappen is performing at an incredibly high level, the gap between him and Perez has been something of a surprise at times – even without seeing the underlying data attached.

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“I think Max is a great driver, but at the same time there are many who cannot explain such a wide margin between him and Checo,” Leclerc admitted in an interview with the Italian edition of Motorsport.com.

“Personally I think it is impossible to read the situation well from the outside, only inside the team do they know exactly everything.

“At times the margin between Max and Checo was greater than I would have expected, but on the other hand Verstappen is an incredible driver and it is probably very difficult to be alongside him.

“But again, I don’t have the full picture of the situation.”