Ferrari boss Mattia Binotto is confident that Charles Leclerc is driving at the level of an F1 world champion in the 2022 season.
Charles Leclerc has delivered a stupendous performance in the first two races of the season. The Ferrari driver took a pole in Bahrain and had to settle for P2 in Saudi Arabia.
Leclerc has outperformed his teammate Carlos Sainz in both the races of this season and stands at the top of the drivers’ standings with 45 points. Sainz follows him in the second position with 33 points and Red Bull’s Max Verstappen in third with 25 points.
Asked if the 24-year-old is racing like a driver targeting the championship title, team principal Mattia Binotto said, “I think he is.”
“But it’s something which I was expecting when renewing as well with him in the last year for up to 2024 because we know what he’s capable of.”
“I think he is simply demonstrating that he’s capable of fighting for the championship.”
“No doubt he’s got the talent, he’s got the capacity, he is a very good racer. We’re very happy with what he’s proving in these two races.”
Charles Leclerc wants to unlock more performance
While Leclerc admits that he is enjoying the way he has started off the new season with the new cars, he said that he still has some areas for improvement.
“I’m quite happy about this start of the season, for sure,” Leclerc said. “I’m working well with the team and the preparation for the first races was very good, so I feel good in general.”
“But there’s definitely more to come. The thing I’m happy about is not really the performance, but I know exactly where I still need to work and what I need to improve to unlock more performance.”
“Whether it will be enough or not to win the world championship, I have no idea. It’s still very early on in the season but let’s say that it’s a very good start.”
“As I said many times, I think development will be key and we as drivers need to help the team in the best way possible to keep this competitiveness.”
