Ferrari’s Charles Leclerc won two of the first three races of the 2022 season and took the challenge of the F1 title. He increased his points lead from his rival Red Bull’s Max Verstappen after claiming victories in Bahrain and Australia.
But as the season progressed, Leclerc secured just one more victory and saw Verstappen move further away toward the title. Following the summer break, Leclerc was left to secure the P2 in the championship as his chances of a title kept fading.
The Monegasque fought with Verstappen’s teammate Sergio Perez for the runner-up position and he won that battle as the campaign ended in Abu Dhabi.
However, Leclerc said that he was “not too much satisfied” after splitting the Red Bulls in the standings.
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Charles Leclerc was ‘frustrated’ during mid-season
Leclerc received the trophy for finishing P2/ runner-up in the championship title at FIA’s prize-giving gala on Friday.
Speaking to the media, Leclerc remarked that Scuderia’s 2022 campaign was ‘good’, especially after the two most difficult seasons of 2021 and 2020.
He stated that ahead of the 2022 season there was no guarantee that the Maranello-based squad would make such a huge step forward and secure P2 in both drivers’ and constructors’ championships.
However, the Ferrari star admitted that when he looks closer into the season, it has been frustrating during the middle part when the team could not pull itself together for the race day.
Leclerc concluded that he has mixed feelings about the 2022 campaign.
Miscues and reliability issues of Ferrari in 2022
The Italian giants started the season strong on the track but soon they faced reliability issues and made strategic errors in managing the situations.
Following this, Leclerc became a victim of DNFs on three occasions. He suffered engine failures in Spain and Azerbaijan and spun into the gravel while leading the race in France.
As the summer races concluded, the title moved farther out of Leclerc’s sight. Verstappen was comfortably able to maintain his lead and back-to-back victories saw the Red Bull ace finish the season on record-breaking points.
Leclerc’s crash in France saw the Monegasque scream into the radio in frustration over his error and was one of the most emotive moments of the season.
Talking about the challenges of keeping the frustration in check during the season, the 25-year-old said, it isn’t that difficult during the season. It gets tough when you look back at the season and you feel it a bit more.
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