“Charles Leclerc is prone to errors”: Red Bull chief does not see 25-year-old Ferrari star as threat to Max Verstappen

When the 2022 F1 season started, most people thought that Charles Leclerc and Max Verstappen would battle for the Title to the very end. In the end, it was Verstappen who took home his second Championship with four races to spare.

Red Bull started the season off on a weak note with two retirements in the first three races. Since then, however, they have been completely unstoppable. A lot of it was down to Ferrari’s own mistakes and reliability issues. The gap between Leclerc and Verstappen kept getting smaller until the latter took a firm hold of the Championship battle. It turned out to be a walk in the park toward the end for the Dutch driver as he ended up World Champion.

Leclerc meanwhile sits P3 in the Drivers’ Championship right now as we approach the penultimate race weekend of 2022. Most fans and pundits blame Ferrari and their strategy goof-ups for Leclerc’s loss, but Red Bull’s chief advisor Helmut Marko wants to highlight the mistakes made by the Monegasque.

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Helmut Marko does not see Charles Leclerc troubling Max Verstappen

In a recent interview with Motorsport Total, Marko shared his thoughts on the current F1 season and their plans for 2023. Talking about Leclerc’s early season Title charge, he insisted that he isn’t worried about the Ferrari driver troubling them in 2023.

This is because he believes that Leclerc is ‘prone to mistakes’ unlike Verstappen. While the majority of the blame for Ferrari’s disastrous 2022 outcome lies on the team’s decision-making and reliability, Leclerc did make some mistakes. The most famous example would be that of the French GP, where he gave up a win from a commanding position after spinning out.

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Marko expecting Lewis Hamilton and Mercedes resurgence in 2023

The 2022 season was not ideal for another powerhouse in Formula 1 either. Mercedes had completely dominated the sport for eight seasons, but failed to cope up with this year’s regulation changes as well as Ferrari or Red Bull.

As a result, the Silver Arrows are still winless with just two races remaining, but insist that they are on the right track. Marko, however, is adamant that they will bounce back with a much better car in 2023.

“I’m also convinced that Mercedes will put out a better car next year,” Marko said.