Ferrari driver Charles Leclerc started the season on a high after he took 2 wins out of 3 opening races of the 2022 season.
With Mercedes lagging behind on performance, his wins gave Tifosi hopes for a long-awaited Ferrari championship but it did not last for long.
As soon as Red Bull figured out its reliability issues, Max Verstappen stormed through the circuit claiming back-to-back victories. Meanwhile, Ferrari began facing some issues and Leclerc’s chances of titles faded away.
As the season ended the Monegasque finished P2 in the standings with about 150 races behind his rival.
But now heading into the next season, the Ferrari driver has understood Red Bull’s strength and what the Scuderia needs to work on.
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Charles Leclerc had a searing one-lap pace
Following the disappointing 2022 season, frustration was all one could see inside the Ferrari camp. Though, there was one positive note that the Italian giants could take away.
Throughout the season, the Monegasque had a much better hold at the one-lap pace. He grabbed 9 pole positions in comparison to Verstappen’s 7 wins.
However, going ahead, Leclerc says that while the season started on high, they started facing a lot of problems over the season. He pointed to the issues with reliability, strategy and tyre management.
Red Bull had a very strong hold on all these aspects of their car and of course, if Ferrari gets a hold of it, they will be stronger in the next season.
charles leclerc and max verstappen karting pic.twitter.com/OxQl1OXfp8
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Red Bull has something that Ferrari doesn’t
Leclerc believes that the car had potential but the problems of the Scuderia kept bringing it down. Ferrari has the race pace, but now the team needs to find the next step for the race pace.
Furthermore, the team will now operate under the guidance of the new team principal Fredric Vasseur and he already has a good relationship with the Monegasque driver.
Vasseur had overseen Leclerc’s drive at Sauber back in 2018 and Leclerc had won 10 points finishes in that season.
Apart from the performance of the car, another area that the team would be looking at is improving their strategy calls.
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