Charles Leclerc gives gloomy prediction on how quick Ferrari will catch Red Bull

Red Bull have won every race this season and Leclerc believes their domination could last a lot longer yet

Ferrari driver Charles Leclerc believes “it will be very difficult” for the chasing pack to catch Red Bull before 2026.

Red Bull have won all 12 races so far this season, with Max Verstappen claiming 10 victories and Sergio Perez two.

Leclerc, who has not won a race since last July in Austria, is an astonishing 215 points behind runaway F1 championship leader Verstappen in the standings – and was pessimistic when asked how long it would take for Ferrari and the rest to match Red Bull.

“They [Red Bull] have a really big margin,” he said on Thursday, ahead of this weekend’s Dutch Grand Prix.

“It’s going to be very, very difficult to catch them before the change of regulations.”

Formula 1 is not set to change its regulations until 2026, when cars will have more electrical power and run on a new carbon-free fuel.

Red Bull, inspired by their design guru Adrian Newey, have nailed this current set of “ground-effect” regulations and are cruising to another double success this year, having coasted to last season’s drivers’ and constructors’ championship as well.

“Normally when we see a team dominating, it was qualifying and the race,” Leclerc added.

“But now, for some reason with Red Bull, it’s much more in the race than in qualifying. The gaps are much bigger in the race than in qualifying and that’s why we are all working towards our race pace, because Red Bull is just so far ahead.

Charles Leclerc is not confident that Ferrari can overhaul Red Bull before 2026 (Getty Images)

“There’s still a lot of work to do. We have some developments in the next few races that can help us do a step forward.”

Ferrari are currently fourth in the constructors’ championship, five points behind Aston Martin in third and 56 points behind Mercedes in second.

The Scuderia, under new boss Fred Vasseur, have struggled to consistently get to grips with their 2023 car – a point acknowledged by Leclerc.

“With this car, we have some unexpected surprises because they are such sensitive cars that a small change can have a big influence. And hopefully it will be the case for us.”

Verstappen has a 125-point lead in the championship to team-mate Sergio Perez heading into his home grand prix this weekend, with 10 races remaining this season.