Ferrari’s 2023 car “isn’t great”, but former Formula 1 driver Ralf Schumacher thinks the Maranello based team has another problem.

After Miami, both Charles Leclerc and Carlos Sainz criticised the inconsistent handling and pace of their red single seater.

“I spoke to Carlos after the race and we agreed that the car is very inconsistent and that it’s practically impossible to push it to the limit,” said Leclerc.

“In one corner you have understeer and in the next corner you have oversteer. That’s strange and we have to check that.”

Spaniard Sainz agreed: “This car does not allow you to attack, especially in the race. You go all out, do a really good lap, and the next one it’s three tenths slower.”

But according to Schumacher, Ferrari’s two drivers should be careful about blaming the entire situation on the car.

“The car isn’t great,” he told Sport1, “but it’s better than they say.

“One driver (Sainz) misbrakes at the pit entrance, while the other hardly finishes a fast lap without crashing.

“Frank Williams would have clipped me around the ears. The trend just isn’t good.”

Schumacher also thinks the problem isn’t the doing of Ferrari’s new team boss Frederic Vasseur.

“A lot has happened already since he took office,” said the 6-time grand prix winner and brother of F1 legend Michael Schumacher.

“I see the biggest problem with the drivers. For me, they’re just not consistent enough.

“With his mistakes, Leclerc shows that he either doesn’t have the maturity or maybe at the end of the day he’s not consistently good enough to win a world championship for Ferrari.

“And Sainz was eight tenths away from Leclerc at one weekend. To be honest, the Ferrari team is currently doing a better job than both drivers.”

Mercedes is also struggling in 2023, and – like Ferrari – is bringing a major car upgrade to the next race at Imola.

“They’re coming back to Europe with a whole new concept,” said Schumacher. “I expect a significant step, otherwise they have a real problem.

“Then it will not only be about the concept, but also internal problems with wrong goals and wrong standards that have been set. And Lewis Hamilton will be seething.

“He’s not used to not winning. He wants attention, which you can always see with his outfits. In Miami he was behind his teammate George Russell, which is the maximum penalty if you are Hamilton.”

Carlos Sainz has hit out at the Italian media for weeks of negative coverage about the start of Ferrari’s 2023 campaign.

The Spanish driver says the negativity is not helping the fabled Maranello team to improve.

“You have to realise that no one is more upset or angry or unhappy about the situation than everyone here,” said Sainz.

“We are the first to not like the situation, and we are the ones who are going full throttle to turn the situation around. And sometimes the comments are more of a distraction and pull us down even more instead of helping us.”

Some of the Ferrari criticism is even in-house, with Lapo Elkann hinting on social media that his brother John Elkann is not present enough at Maranello.

When one user insisted that “in the eyes of us fans, the presidency is absent”, Lapo Elkann replied: “Unfortunately, I know.”

John Elkann, however, told a Ferrari shareholders’ meeting late last week: “Last year we were able to improve our performance significantly.

“Our goal now is and remains to win the world title. Fred (Vasseur) is concentrating on achieving this goal together with the whole team.”

Ferrari’s determination for every single point is also evident in the appeal against Sainz’s controversial Melbourne penalty for a clash with Fernando Alonso.

The FIA has set the online appeal hearing date for Tuesday morning.

Aston Martin boss Mike Krack, meanwhile, admits that although the team he leads is ahead of both Mercedes and Ferrari, Aston Martin is having to look backwards as well as ahead to dominant Red Bull.

“We are substantially behind Red Bull,” he told Auto Motor und Sport. “Even if they stand still, the gap would be too big to catch them in one season.

“Of course we take the fastest car as a reference, but we are constantly looking at the gaps with respect to Ferrari, Mercedes and Alpine.

“We have to be realistic. We have to look ahead, but we also have to look at third and fourth place. Things can change very quickly,” Krack added.