Formula 1 expert Marc Surer draws the comparison: Is Charles Leclerc as good as Max Verstappen? On which point he sees the World Championship rivals on an equal footing
At the start of the 2022 Formula 1 season, Charles Leclerc seemed to pose a real threat to Max Verstappen in the fight for the title. But the Ferrari driver is now a whopping 80 points behind the reigning world champion.
The gap is due to his own mistakes, but also to wrong strategy decisions by Ferrari, which cost Leclerc important points most recently in Hungary.
Formula 1 expert Marc Surer sees Leclerc and Verstappen as equal opponents. “I would say that they are on a similar level,”
Leclerc and Verstappen on a par in terms of talent
Although Surer admits: “Of course Max Verstappen has an advantage now that he is world champion and that makes him stronger. You can see that throughout the year. He no longer does rash things. He’s slowing someone down, although that can never go well, like he did with Lewis Hamilton last year.”
“So from that, I think Verstappen is more mature than Leclerc. Leclerc has to become world champion first to be as good as Verstappen. But from a talent point of view, there is not much difference between the two. I think they are on the same level. “
The expert can’t say the same about Leclerc and his teammate Sainz. Nevertheless, Ferrari haven’t really seemed to be able to bring themselves to proclaim Leclerc as the clear number 1 and give him preference over Sainz.
“Not always fast”: Sainz lacks consistency
Is the Spaniard too bad as a number 1 but too good as a number 2? “Yes, there is something. Yes, there are good days when he’s super fast, but he’s not always super fast and I think that’s the weakness,” Surer says of Sainz’s performance, who is 22 points behind Leclerc in the overall standings.
“There are drivers like that often, when everything is just right, you can do great, but when it’s not quite right, it doesn’t work and that’s still the case with Sainz,” the Swiss says.
