Piero Ferrari says Leclerc needs to “grow” to match “peak” Verstappen

Verstappen is on course to take his third consecutive F1 world title, with Red Bull teammate Sergio Perez his only contender for the title in 2023.

12 months ago, it looked like Leclerc could duel it out with Verstappen for the entirety of the season.

However, poor reliability, strategy and driver errors meant that Verstappen ran away with it.

As Verstappen continues to show how polished he is as a driver, Leclerc has continued to be error-prone in F1 2023.

While Leclerc is arguably the fastest driver in F1, especially over one-lap, there’s still room for improvement, according to Ferrari’s vice chairman.

"He [Verstappen] is incredibly fast. He was already driving in F1 when he didn't even have a driver's licence in his possession," Ferrari told Autosprint.

"I was there when he got his first victory in Barcelona. He made his mistakes after that, his accidents. Now he is young and already has a lot of experience. He is a great driver who is now at the peak of his career."

"Charles has the speed to be equal to Verstappen. But he has less experience, in terms of number of GPs. Leclerc can still grow, he will grow...”

Ferrari was also asked about Carlos Sainz, he replied: “Bravo, I think we have not yet seen his true full potential, we are waiting for it.”