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Jolyon Palmer feels Charles Leclerc buckled too easily under pressure from Max Verstappen during the 2022 F1 Miami GP. The Briton is a former F1 driver turned analyst who was also the 2014 GP2 series world champion.
Verstappen was set to do all the work in Miami, starting in P3 behind Charles Leclerc on pole and Carlos Sainz in P2, and he did. The Dutchman was rapid off the line and had his elbows out going into Turn 1 to jump the Spaniard and begin his pursuit of the sister Ferrari.
He overtook the race leader eight laps later, and Palmer emphasized the relative ease with which the reigning world champion was able to dispatch off the championship leader.
In his column on F1.com, the former Lotus and Renault driver wrote:
“At the end of Lap 8 [Max] Verstappen was within DRS range of [Charles] Leclerc, in a Red Bull that is quick on the straights, the pressure was beginning to mount on Leclerc who was just showing signs of struggling with his front tyres. Leclerc immediately cracked, running wide at Turn 17 as soon as Verstappen loomed large in the Ferrari’s mirrors."
The Dutch driver was ruthless and at the first chance of asking, he pounced as a world champion of his caliber would. Palmer went on to add:
"This gave the Dutchman a brilliant opportunity to pass, which became a slam dunk when Leclerc gifted Verstappen the inside line into Turn 1. Passes for the race lead don’t come much easier than that, particularly against a driver who is almost certainly Leclerc’s main title rival.”
Leclerc did have an opportunity to try and fight his title rival for the win after the safety car brought the entire field together. However, the Monegasque simply could not match the pace of the Red Bull RB18 to make a move.
"Upgrades will be important" - Charles Leclerc hopes Ferrari will develop F1-75 ahead of 2022 F1 Spanish GP
Charles Leclerc believes upgrades to his Ferrari F1-75 will be essential to both world championships with Red Bull.
After being upstaged by Max Verstappen at the Miami International Autodrome, the 24-year-old Monagasque shared his thoughts in an interview with Sky Sports F1, where he said:
“It was a very difficult race physically. We struggled quite a bit on the medium tires in the first stint and got overtaken. It made our race a bit more difficult from that moment onwards. On the hard [tires], we were very competitive, and towards the end I thought I could get Max at one point but today they had the advantage in terms of pace.”
Leclerc went on to stress the importance of staying ahead in the developmental race between the factories in Maranello and Milton Keynes. He added:
“We need to keep pushing. Upgrades will be important and I hope now we can do a step up from the next race onwards. It has been an exciting beginning to the season and that’s what we like to see.”
Charles Leclerc will be hoping to get back to his winning ways when action returns to Europe with the 2022 F1 Spanish GP at the Circuit de Catalunya in Barcelona.
