Martin Brundle warns Ferrari risk losing championships if they cannot fix one particular issue

Martin Brundle has warned Ferrari that they risk losing out on both championships if they cannot solve their issues with straight-line speed compared to Red Bull.

The Scuderia finished second and third in Miami on Sunday, with Max Verstappen taking the victory ahead of Charles Leclerc and Carlos Sainz.

Indeed, it was clear that the RB18 had the edge over the F1-75 on the high-speed straights and, indeed, if Sergio Perez had not been suffering with a power deficit in his Red Bull he may well have overhauled at least Sainz.

Brundle mentioned it in commentary and has since doubled down on his belief that, right now, if Ferrari cannot find some extra grunt they may well miss out on both titles.

Writing for Sky Sports, he said:

“Once again Charles Leclerc and his Ferrari were the fastest combo on the track to secure pole position, but also once again Ferrari had no answer to Red Bull’s prodigious straight-line speed with or without the DRS rear wing open. Unless they fix that with less high-speed drag then these will be Red Bull’s world championships.

“It was another very impressive and mature drive from both Verstappen and Leclerc, but the Ferrari drivers simply can’t breeze back past any more like Leclerc did to Verstappen in Bahrain. This gives Max and team-mate Sergio Perez the comfort zone of looking after their tyres and playing the longer game knowing they can pounce down a relatively risk-free straight later on.”

Of course, Ferrari will be working hard to try and add more power to their car and they know that fundamentally they already have a very strong bit of kit.

The Red Bull is looking mighty as well, though, and so the development race between the two this season is going to be crucial.