F1 is currently going through a churning where the young drivers are showing how much they can push themselves. Surely there are limitations in each case but the willingness to stay on the edge and thrive is phenomenal. Charles Leclerc is a prime example of this resilience. Does Ferrari have its own set of demons? Yes. But does Leclerc let that get in the way of him taking the fight to the top dogs? Certainly not. That quality of his is what left a McLaren legend in awe of him despite the Monegasque only managing to finish P7 in Miami.

After grabbing the pole position twice in Azerbaijan and finishing on the podium during the Sprint and the Main Race, Leclerc has tasted the blood. The feat made him more hungry to get to the top spot and carry the momentum in Miami. But the passion got the better of him when he pushed his SF-23 beyond its limits in qualifying and suffered the consequences. Did that make team principal Frederic Vasseur angry with him? No. In fact, the French boss stood behind his driver and lauded him for staying true to his nature. He praised him for putting that extra effort to go the extra mile.

Former McLaren defends Charles Leclerc despite a disappointing result in Miami

The crash in Q3 saw Leclerc start the race in P7. That put a dampener on his ambitions to replicate the performance from Baku. What turned out to be another challenge was Kevin Magnussen vehemently defending against the Ferrari ace until almost the 40th lap. The raging battle between the two once again exposed Ferrari’s big weakness- the lack of race pace. Resultantly, the Monegasque finished the race where he started it from- P7.

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Sharing his thoughts about Leclerc’s race on a recent episode of the F1 Nation podcast, Pedro de la Rosa said, “We were all expecting a bit more [from Leclerc] but look at what Max did. But let’s remind ourselves that he’s not driving a Red Bull. So, what Max did is stunning, it’s incredible and he showed a masterclass today. He’s also driving a supercar that takes care of the tires, that is very complete. So, I think that we were all expecting more from Leclerc. But, having said that, how many drivers would have done better than him on a Ferrari today?”

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The positive results from Baku gave an impression that Ferrari was finally on a course to resurgence. The team introduced some changes to the underbody of the car and it looked like it paid off. However, the struggle continued in Miami and that shows that there is still a lot left to be done in the Maranello factory.

The porpoising issue comes back to haunt Leclerc

The advent of the ground-effect regulations brought with it a major problem for almost every team- the porpoising issue. While most teams found a way to get rid of it in the last season itself, Ferrari still seem to be struggling with it. After his crash in a free practice session and then one in qualifying, Leclerc was carrying a pre-race neck injury. Surely the aggressive porpoising did not help during the race.

“Today there were a lot of problems,” GP Fans quoted him as saying post-race. “Now we’ll see what’s up with the car. To me, something wasn’t right.”

“I say this because of how much the car bounced on high-speed corners, how much I touched the ground.”

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The circus will now go into a one-week break before action resumes in Imola. The fixture becomes all the more important for the Prancing Horse team as it happens to be their home race. A bad result there will certainly not go down well with the fans.