Charles Leclerc F1 title boost as news on 2023 Ferrari car leaks

Mick Schumacher drives his father’s Ferrari F2003-GA in October

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Charles Leclerc’s 2023 title hopes have been given a major boost with details of Ferrari’s new car having apparently leaked from Maranello. It’s the latest series of leaks to plague the Prancing Horse with still weeks to go before their car is officially launched on February 14.

According to Italian site Formu1a.uno, “highly-qualified sources” claim that the Scuderia’s new model is over one second faster than last year’s model. The report also claims there is intense stimulation work being carried out by Leclerc and Carlos Sainz ahead of the new campaign,

It is understood the most significant improvements will be in medium and low-speed corners as a result of the FIA’s rules changes to increase ride heights. There is also expected to be a reduction in porpoising which could also reduce lap times by up to seven-tenths of a second.

According to the source, new team principal Frederic Vasseur has not implemented any significant updates to the culture of the team. Instead, the French boss has opted for continuity as the team aim to build on last season.

The latest leaks come just one month after details emerged of a power-unit upgrade for Ferrari. Soymotor.com claimed the Italian marque would come into the season with a more powerful engine compared to last year’s model.

The new machine is said to be capable of generating an extra 30 horsepower which could be a major boost to the squad’s chances. Although teams cannot change components between seasons, they are allowed to make reliability tweaks which are behind the new upgrade.

Last season, former team boss Mattia Binotto admitted the squad had been forced to turn down their power unit after a string of failures. Leclerc suffered mechanical issues while leading the Spanish and Azerbaijan Grands Prix after winning two of the first three races.

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FERRARI

The retirements were a blow to his title hopes as Verstappen stormed to victory to open a commanding lead in the Drivers’ Championship.

Binotto said: “We pushed the limits of performance beyond what would have been a normal reliability plan, and this is because we knew it would be important to close the gap on the competition before the development freeze for four seasons, knowing that reliability issues can always be resolved later.”

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