Charles Leclerc’s second-half of the 2022 Formula 1 season was unrecognizable from the Monegasque’s first few races of the season. He has now addressed his and Scuderia Ferrari’s various shortcomings and errors.
Too Many Mistakes
Charles Leclerc ended up second in the Driver Standings for 2022. He barely edged out Sergio Perez by three points and accumulated 308 points. But at the start of the season, Leclerc was tipped to be well on his journey to his maiden World Championship. Many expected a close battle between Ferrari’s poster boy Leclerc and defending champion Max Verstappen. But fate had other plans.
Ferrari repeatedly made horrific and costly strategy calls which severely affected Leclerc’s season. The Tifosi faced encountered frustration and confusion when it seemed as if the Scuderia couldn’t even make correct calls on tyre choices. Confidence was at a low at Ferrari. Ferrari race engineers were heard repeatedly questioning the drivers on their thoughts on strategies during races. Charles Leclerc’s shot at tasting gold was becoming more and more unlikely after Ferrari F1-75 faced unreliability issues. But Leclerc got the best out of the car and was convincingly outperforming his team-mate, Carlos Sainz.
Leclerc stated, “The performance was probably there, but too many mistakes, [in terms of] reliability, strategy, also my mistakes cost some points.” “Learning from mistakes, I think, is the main thing. But I also believe that whenever you are in the rhythm of good races, then that helps,” he further added.
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Charles Leclerc Admits His Own Errors
But Ferrari strategies weren’t the sole reason behind Leclerc’s gradual disappointment. He admitted to his own errors where the 24-year-old made avoidable mistakes and consequently, crashed the car. He said, “I’ve always been very vocal about my mistakes. There were two, especially this year, that were costly and where I lost points.”
Leclerc clinched three victories and nine pole positions over the course of the 2022 season. Ferrari and Leclerc clearly had the one lap speed but failed the test of durability in a race.
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The Orange Parade Supersedes The Prancing Horses
Additionally, Red Bull’s upgrades were just too much for the rest of the grid to handle. Max Verstappen’s record-breaking season and consistent dominant performances added to Ferrari’s woes. Leclerc admitted that although Ferrari needs to improve on strategy and reliability, there was no denying how good Verstappen was. Ferrari failed to secure a single win in the second-half of the season.
Alfa Romeo Sauber’s Frederic Vasseur is set to join Ferrari as its new team principal after Mattia Binotto’s exit.
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