“The pace was there to win races, but we didn’t deliver. That was hard to take.” that phrase of leclerc in Auto Motor and Sport It is worth to summarize the season of Ferrari and, more specifically, his. He started the year with two wins, a second place and a 46-point lead over Verstappen, but then we already know how the story ended after the Dutchman’s record 15 wins and missed opportunities in the Maranello box. 146 points separated the Monegasque, who at least saved the runner-up, from Max.
Until Red Bull tuned up and passed them on the right, Ferrari had the best car. Later, they could do more but, as Leclerc points out, they were not “good enough to have the perfect race on Sundays, for example in terms of strategy”. “Sometimes we put ourselves in a sub-optimal situation, which forced us to do a very long stint on one tire and things like that. We have to improve our execution in the race. If I look at the whole season, I think we had the performance to fight for the title”, he assures.
Despite the many criticisms that have rained down on them from outside, they are “self-critical” and the first to demand that they raise the bar, which has led them to do without Binotto to try to find another push. “I am very critical within the team. I’m not a driver who criticizes them harshly in public, but in internal meetings I push my team forward. That’s my job. If I make mistakes, I correct them. If the team makes mistakes, they have to be on the table. They have to allow me to say what I think.” Charles muses.
Of course, Leclerc applauds the scuderia for being able to take a leap compared to last year and encourages them to take another one for the next one: “We have taken a big step from 2021 to this season, we did an incredible job. I don’t think many people believed that we were capable of fighting for wins. In 2023 we should have a car as good as this to be able to fight for the championship.” To do this, they have to “find a way to be as fast as Red Bull on the straights” because there will be more competition with Mercedes: “I’m counting on them.”
Ahead of Sainz
Despite the fact that Sainz’s year has been more irregular than usual, Leclerc also changed “some things” to be able to finish ahead of his teammate (308 by 246 points): “The way I work, the discipline I have at home… I was very tired in 2021 from the middle of the season to the end. That influenced me and affected performance. It is also possible that this car will suit me better. We had a great winter test, we tried a lot of things and we focused a lot on how the car could drive. That helped me start at a high level. I could concentrate on the details.”
