Marc Gene: 20 points behind is almost nothing

Marc Genet’s active career in Formula 1 ended almost twenty years ago, but he remained in the World Championship paddock – he started working with Ferrari as a test driver, commented on races on Spanish and Italian television channels and now serves as an ambassador for Formula 1. legendary brand Maranello.

Speaking on the F1Nation podcast on the championship’s official website, Gene said that after two wins in Melbourne and Monaco and nine podiums, his Scuderia colleagues will inevitably consider entering into a dispute for the Constructors’ Championship, even if Frederic Vasseur, the team leader, prefers not to rush things.

But Max Verstappen had problems in Monaco, where his car clearly didn’t have enough speed, preventing him from getting above 6th place, and Sergio Perez retired on the first lap due to a serious accident, while both Ferrari drivers finished in the top three .

It is possible that Red Bull’s problems will continue in Canada, as at the Montreal Circuit Gilles Villeneuve is required to aggressively attack the curbs, and the RB20 copes with this worse than the cars of other top teams.

“Our car performed well in Monaco, especially in slow corners,” said Genet about the results of the 8th stage of the season. – I would even say that the success was predetermined, despite what happened to Carlos Sainz, because he returned to third position (after the race was stopped on the first lap by red flags and then restarted).

Because the leaders no longer had to make pit stops, this made it easier for Charles Leclerc to start the race. Success was very important, because previously it seemed that the Monaco circuit was some kind of enchanted place for him.

I can say that a huge burden has now been lifted from his shoulders. I can’t even imagine what would happen if something happened again at the next Monaco Grand Prix, it would simply be unbearable. Overall, I’m very happy for him.

Frederic says we shouldn’t think about the championship yet, and I know that, but such thoughts inevitably come. You look at the photo in the team rankings and understand that 20 points behind the leaders is almost nothing. But for now we still enjoy the recent success, and then we will see how further events will develop.

It’s funny in its own way that Charles’ situation was the most difficult in the first part of qualifying. Incredibly, he only had one attempt, and in theory he could even get out of the fight. On Sunday, after both starts, he controlled the flow of the race, set his pace and generally kept the situation under control throughout the weekend. Charles drove very confidently, which was also reflected in his braking: he took the Rascasse and Sainte Devote corners at very high speed.

The team has paid a lot of attention to working with the settings recently and Leclerc assures that the car now does exactly what he wants. But already in the days of the previous stage in Imola it was clear that the car largely suited his preferences, and he was satisfied with the behavior of the SF-24 – this was reflected in its steering.”

Before the 9th stage of the season, Ferrari’s lead over Red Bull Racing had actually reduced to 24 points, although further events could develop under any scenario. For example, in 2022 the Scuderia was generally in the lead by a noticeable margin after three races, but Red Bull Racing took the lead after the sixth stage.

However, this year it is clear that Ferrari and McLaren are confidently gaining strength, while Red Bull is doing noticeably worse than in the previous two years, and in general the balance of power in the championship is changing, which of course gives hope. for Scuderia fans. The last time the Maranello team won the Constructors’ Championship was in 2008, when Felipe Massa and Kimi Raikkonen battled it out.