Charles Leclerc endured a disappointing end to the 2022 season, despite starting strong. He won two out of the opening three races which made him an early favorite to win the world championship, but the charge faded away due to strategy blunders and reliability issues.
This season, keeping those factors under check, fans expected Leclerc and Ferrari to bounce back and challenge for the title once again. Unfortunately for Leclerc, the SF-23 is not nearly as strong as last year’s car, and Red Bull seems to be unstoppable at the moment.
On top of that, Mercedes and Aston Martin have overtaken Ferrari in terms of performance, and the Monegasque driver’s woes continued with further reliability problems. In the opening three races of the season, he managed to amass a total of just six points which for a driver of his caliber, is a disaster.
Heading into the next rounds, Leclerc’s aim remains the same- to win more races and fight for the world championship. However, his efforts are going to vain, because of his helplessness when it comes to car performance.
Ferrari needs to score more points, says Charles Leclerc
After an unusually long season break, F1 is finally returning this weekend with the Azerbaijan GP. While traveling to Baku together, Leclerc and teammate Carlos Sainz appeared in a question and answer session for their sponsor Vistajet. In that segment, Leclerc outlined his goals for the 2023 season, with 20 races remaining on the calendar.
While he acknowledges the difficulty in achieving it, his goal remains to win the 2023 World Championship. Of course, Red Bull is dominant at the moment, and Max Verstappen is expected to coast toward his third consecutive world title win. Still, Leclerc will be aiming to win more races and close the gap in the coming races.
Leclerc admitted that he does want more wins and pole positions, but the primary focus should be on scoring as many points as possible. Without that, they won’t be able to pass Mercedes and Aston Martin in the standings on their way to potentially catching Red Bull.
Leclerc not giving up on 2023 title fight
It is still early days in the championship battle, but scoring just six point after three days is not promising for someone who aims to win the championship. Nevertheless, Leclerc’s aim remains to win the title.
“It’s gonna be a difficult task,” he said. “But for sure I’ll do everything to improve the challenge for the championship.”
Leclerc’s teammate Sainz too has struggled in the opening three rounds, but has 14 more points than Leclerc. The Maranello-based outfit are currently fourth in the constructors’ standings and will be hoping to close the gap to Mercedes and Aston Martin in Baku this weekend.
