The start of the 2022 season was very promising for Charles Leclerc and Ferrari. The Monegasque driver won two out of their opening three races and was the early favorite to win the championship.
Unfortunately, Ferrari’s strategy goof-ups and reliability woes brought his title charge to a premature end. Ultimately, Leclerc finished P2 in the drivers’ championship standings behind Max Verstappen, which was a result he wasn’t particularly happy with. Heading into the 2023 season, he wants this to change.
In the latest episode of F1’s Beyond the Grid podcast, Leclerc talks about the issues that plagued his previous season and how he wants to fight for the title successfully this time. In the end, he was asked if he thinks he’s the best version of himself right now, to which he answered with a resounding yes.
2nd in the Driver and Team’s Championship. We did the best race possible and for that I’m happy.
Thank you for all the support during the year. We’ll work more than ever to do a further step in the right direction to fight for the championship next year ❤️ pic.twitter.com/JAgZHqElgy— Charles Leclerc (@Charles_Leclerc) November 20, 2022
“I feel like with experience, you also only get better and better,” the Ferrari superstar said. “Year after year, I always learned something.”
Leclerc went on to say that F1 is a sport where one always finds something within them. On both his good and bad days, he finds something more and improves.
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Will Charles Leclerc be more outspoken about Ferrari’s strategy woes?
2022 was a very difficult year for Ferrari and Leclerc and their strategy blunders played a huge role in that. There were multiple instances throughout the year where their poor planning and strategy execution cost Leclerc race wins, and the team important points.
The entire F1 community and media slandered the Maranello-based outfit for these mistakes, but Leclerc was surprisingly quiet about this. At least, he was quiet in front of the press.
Talking in the Beyond the Grid podcast, Leclerc revealed that within the team, he has always been very vocal about what he desires and this includes strategy. He addresses whatever blunders the team makes internally, but refuses to make a fuss outside the camp.
The 25-year-old will continue with this approach in 2023, because he insists that he doesn’t care what the outside world says about him or his team.
Leclerc vs Sainz: Who is Ferrari’s number one?
One of the biggest talking points of 2022 was Ferrari’s refusal to admit Leclerc was their number one driver. According to most people, the Monegasque driver should have a clear number one status at the Maranello-based squad, but former team principal Mattia Binotto insisted on both drivers getting equal opportunities throughout.
“It was important for me to understand their mood, their feeling, what they were thinking about the last season” 💭
Frédéric Vasseur says he had a ‘very long’ chat with both Carlos Sainz and Charles Leclerc after he took over as Ferrari team principal 👇 pic.twitter.com/fjTUNYUTla
— Sky Sports F1 (@SkySportsF1) January 31, 2023
Now Ferrari has a new team principal in Fred Vasseur. Even though the Frenchman is adamant that both drivers will be treated the same initially, he did admit that if need be, he will make the tough call of asking one of them to back out.
Whether Leclerc or Sainz will be Ferrari’s preferred choice for leading their championship charge will be seen after the first few races of the season are completed.
