Charles Leclerc’s Formula 1 Championship Aim Takes a Major Hit With Latest Ferrari Delay

Sabyasachi Biswas | 07/04/2023
Charles Leclerc’s Formula 1 Championship Aim Takes a Major Hit With Latest Ferrari Delay

According to a recent development, Charles Leclerc’s Formula 1 championship prospect is expected to take an enormous hit. Citing Ferrari’s delay in bringing in the latest upgrades for their SF-23, the Monegasque wouldn’t be able to put up much of a fight until Barcelona.

As per Soy Motor and Franco Nugnes, Scuderia Ferrari will not be able to come up with a fully loaded SF-23 until this year’s Spanish Grand Prix. This will hinder Leclerc’s chances to fight Max Verstappen for the championship and put him on the back foot.

According to the sources, the improvements are set to be brought stage by stage. The Ferrari challengers will have new diffusers in Baku, new suspension in Imola, and some minor improvements in Miami.

However, there were talks about bringing the rear diffusers to Melbourne. Still, it was impossible as they were not ready and did not have enough modifications to have them in the SF-23 to bring out maximum performance.

2023 is the worst start to a season for Leclerc

After the DNF last week in Australia, Leclerc revealed that it was the worst start to his F1 season. The Australian GP DNF was his second retirement in three races.

The Monegasque is in P10 in the driver’s standings with just six points on board. He’s trailing the defending champion Verstappen by 63 points. Whereas at this stage, the Ferrari driver led the Red Bull maestro by 46 points.

Having said that, 2023 gave him the worst start, and he became emotional. With SF-23 not firing enough and Aston Martin and Mercedes shining, it will be a draconian task for him to be back again and be competitive.

Where does Leclerc stand in front of Verstappen in the championship?

The Monegasque is quite far away in terms of championship points when compared to the Dutchman. Verstappen leads the championship with 69 points, whereas Leclerc has six points to his name.

The Ferrari pilot had exactly the opposite start to his season this year as compared to 2022. At this point, the 25-year-old had two wins and a P2 under his belt, and the Red Bull driver had two DNFs in three races.

Surprisingly, Leclerc has two DNFs this year, whereas the Dutchman has two wins and a P2 with him. This brings us to the conclusion Charles Leclerc will be able to have a comeback like Max Verstappen last year.

Post Edited By: Tanish Chachra
Charles Leclerc Max Verstappen Sergio Perez

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Sabyasachi Biswas

Sabyasachi Biswas is an F1 journalist at The SportsRush. With over one and a half decades of love for the sport and five years of experience in the field, he dreams to be a regular at the paddock when the lights go out. A Red Bull fan and F1 fan in general over the years, he enjoyed watching Felipe Massa, Sebastian Vettel, and Max Verstappen dominate the track. Apart from F1, he's also a big-time Madridista and Federer fanatic. He was a sub-junior level footballer, won inter-district quizzes and debate competitions back in school. A travel freak throughout, he tries different cuisines and learns new cultures whenever he's away from the keyboard.

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