'They're on another planet': Red Bull have something big that we don't, says perplexed Leclerc

Ferrari's Charles Leclerc is concerned about the seemingly massive gap in race pace between them and defending champions Red Bull.

The Monegasque driver qualified in third position for the opening race of the 2023 Formula 1 season in Bahrain and, even though he passed Sergio Perez's Red Bull at the start, he was overtaken again and dropped back to third.

The two Red Bulls then pulled away to secure a simple one-two, while Leclerc's race abruptly ended on Lap 41 when his engine lost power.

"It's not good enough," Leclerc said after the race.

"We are far from Red Bull, so we need to push and understand what did they find during this break because they are on another planet on race pace.

"I mean, for now, we don't know. We are fast in qualifying, but we are not fast in the race, and it's not by a little. So, I think Red Bull found something big somewhere, and we need to find that.

"It is very difficult to understand because obviously, the car, from qualifying to race, is not changing at all.

"But for some reason, on one lap, we are very close to them, and in the race, we are a second away in some parts of the race. It's crazy, the difference, so we need to look into it."