After spending three weeks in the Middle East for pre-season and the opening two rounds of the 2023 season, all F1 drivers are in Melbourne for the Australian GP. The third round of this year’s championship kicked off on Friday, and fans are anticipating an exciting race. Charles Leclerc, however, was in the news for very different reasons.
2023 won’t be the first time Leclerc races in Melbourne, as he has been traveling to the track since 2019. Still, Leclerc seems to have some trouble in remembering the exact roads that lead to Albert Park, as he got lost in the city, which made him late for free practice on Friday.
A fan posted a video on social media, of the 25-year-old arriving to the paddock in hurry. While signing autographs, a reporter asked him a question, but Leclerc revealed that he was running very late. He apologized for being in a hurry, and said that he got lost on the streets of Melbourne!
Charles Leclerc not expecting ‘miracles’ in Melbourne
Last year when Leclerc was in Melbourne, the mood was very different in the Ferrari garage. They had the strongest car, which allowed the Monegasque to take home the pole position and race win, solidifying his status as an early favorite to win the world championship.
This season, however, Red Bull has the most dominant car, which makes Max Verstappen and Sergio Perez the favorite to challenge for the win. Leclerc and Ferrari, meanwhile, are struggling. The Maranello-based outfit are far off the pace at the moment. In the Constructors’ Championship standings, they are behind Red Bull, Aston Martin and Mercedes.
Heading into the Australian GP weekend, Leclerc told the media that he isn’t expecting any miracles to take place. He wants to be realistic about their chances and admits that they’re in no condition to challenge for the race win.
Leclerc hoping for strong qualifying in Albert Park
FP2 was a session that involved rain for the first time this season, and it gave hope to Ferrari fans. Max Verstappen did not top the timing charts with Fernando Alonso taking P1 on Friday’s second session, and Leclerc followed the former Ferrari driver in second.
Of course, the times recorded in FP2 can translate into a completely different story come qualifying, but it was a ray of hope in what has been a difficult year for Leclerc. Unfortunately for him, he fell down the order to P13 in FP3 in a session that was riddled with multiple incidents and red flags.
Leclerc will be hoping that Ferrari find some performance heading into qualifying that allows him to get as close to Verstappen and Red Bull as possible.
