Renowned F1 expert Peter Windsor has recently opined that Charles Leclerc can never match Max Verstappen’s achievements while he is at Ferrari. This is largely because Leclerc is not only battling his wretched run of form but also the blunders of the Prancing Horse and therefore failing short of his aim against an agile Verstappen.
Unlike this season, Leclerc sparked a fierce battle with the Dutchman in 2022. The first and the second race of last season saw the two drivers go wheel-to-wheel against one another. Fans believed they were on the brink of witnessing a duel for the championship title.
However, after several blunders by him and the team, the Monegasque fell short of the two-time world champion. And unfortunately, there has been no comeback from there, as Ferrari and Leclerc are still going through a rough patch. Amid these, the 2022 French GP error has been monumental for the 25-year-old, believes Windsor.
Windsor believes Leclerc can never catch Verstappen in a Ferrari
Windsor has recently opened up on various Formula 1 topics, including Hamilton’s alleged switch to Ferrari on his official YouTube channel. There he also spoke up about Leclerc and Verstappen and how the Prancing Horse failed against the mighty Bulls.
According to PlanetF1, Windsor said, “Well, he needs to be in a Red Bull RB19 with Adrian Newey fussing around him all day. Short of that, it’s not going to be easy. If he’s at Ferrari, I don’t know what he needs, but he needs a car as quick as a Red Bull and no politics.”
What a way to finish a perfect weekend @redbullracing 🏆
An absolutely amazing job by everyone in the team 💪
A big thank you goes out to everyone for joining us on the Red Bull Ring! Your support is seriously unmatched 👏🦁#AustrianGP pic.twitter.com/OtDDffn6WB
— Max Verstappen (@Max33Verstappen) July 2, 2023
Following this, he added how the Monegasque can make a comeback from here. “[It’s] impossible. He’s not gonna achieve Max’s level, in my opinion, because he’s got too much other stuff going on in his brain to focus on being as good as Max is right now,” the 71-year-old Australian further added.
Admittedly, Charles Leclerc in the team often goes through mismanaged strategies and, therefore, the politics behind that. Furthermore, he also gets tough resistance from his teammate Carlos Sainz when it comes to abiding the team calls when needed. All in all, the situation at Ferrari isn’t great for the young driver from Monaco to overcome Verstappen.
Leclerc has a fighting spirit despite difficulties, believes Windsor
Amid the countless errors Leclerc commits due to his concentration issues and lack of proper execution, the Ferrari star is often hard on himself, believes Peter Windsor. The former Ferrari official thinks this is a good thing and isn’t likely to affect him negatively.
Revealing the Monegasque’s self-criticism, the Australian F1 expert recalled an incident from F2. Following a race in Formula 2, Windsor chatted with Charles Leclerc, who was with Prema Racing back then. After the F1 expert confronted him about not being fast, Leclerc replied that he didn’t drive very well throughout the race and especially around Parabolica and Lesma.
In the end, Peter Windsor believes winning World championships with Scuderia Ferrari has become much tougher than Michael Schumacher or Niki Lauda era. It’ll be interesting to see if the Ferrari star driver can finally land himself one.
