"It was the Charles Leclerc effect": Why Ferrari had an impressive performance at the 2023 F1 Azerbaijan GP

F1 pundit Scott-Mitchell Malm mentioned that the main reason behind Ferrari's impressive performance at the F1 Azerbaijan GP was Charles Leclerc.

The Monegasque driver took two pole positions and two podiums during the first Sprint weekend of the season and once again showcased his prowess on the street circuit. Despite finishing 20 seconds behind the Red Bull duo in the main race on Sunday, there were many positives for the Italian team.

While appearing on The Race podcast, Mitchell-Malm said:

"The biggest difference was Charles Leclerc. It's the Leclerc magic around a street track and one like this. Mark wrote a terrific piece about Leclerc's qualifying performance on Friday and it was brilliant. I haven't seen Leclerc's onboard lap but I've seen so many Charles Leclerc onboard and I remember reading and I could basically visualize it."

He continued:

"The bit that crystalized the most was when he got to the penultimate two corners and riding the sheer wave of confidence and tipping the car in, just letting it run and not having to think about it at all, that's peak Charles Leclerc, especially on a street track."

"Well, we have to with our car otherwise we kill [the tires] and then we cannot get them back" - Charles Leclerc on conserving tires

The Ferrari driver pointed out the biggest weakness in the SF-23 and how it affects their tire management during the race and pegs them back from challenging their rivals.

Speaking to the media, including RacingNews365, he mentioned conserving the car's tires and said:

"Well, we have to with our car otherwise we kill [the tires] and then we cannot get them back and then this has a big influence on our performance. So, I think we did the perfect management today. But we are just not quick enough. Whether we lack at the beginning of the stint, or at the end of the stint, this we can change but yeah, we just don't have enough performance for now."

"At the end, it [was] the same car [in the sprint and Grand Prix], I managed it differently, but actually, the outcome doesn't change. We've optimized absolutely everything. The thing we should be happy about after a weekend like this is that we've maximized every session. I don't think we could have done anything better in any of those sessions. So that is a positive – but still, a lot of work to do in terms of race pace."

Hopefully, Ferrari can sort out this issue quickly and fight at the front more consistently in races.