After missing out on the world championship last year, Charles Leclerc is going through yet another tough season with Ferrari. Leclerc has been unable to be consistent with a sub-par car, with other teams overtaking Ferrari in terms of development. Now, feeling hopeless, Leclerc “does not know what Ferrari wants from him.”
Leclerc was in direct contention for the 2022 world championship in the first half of the 2022 season. However, this time around he is P7 in the drivers’ championship with 84 points. That is eight points less than his teammate Carlos Sainz after 11 rounds, who is two places ahead of him.
Pole man at the ready 👌
Formation lap underway! pic.twitter.com/tAnvwvJd7l
— Scuderia Ferrari (@ScuderiaFerrari) July 30, 2023
Even though Leclerc is the one behind the wheel, the majority of the blame seems to be falling on Ferrari’s shoulders. Despite facing enormous backlash last year for their strategic calls, the Italian team has not particularly improved this campaign. This has left Leclerc incredibly frustrated with the Maranello-based outfit.
Charles Leclerc and Ferrari’s underwhelming season continues
Both Leclerc and Ferrari have had their own share of blunders this season. The former driver made several mistakes during qualifying and the races, which cost him several points. On the other hand, the team has once again made some incredibly questionable strategy decisions.
The 25-year-old recently opened up about this situation and his future at the team. According to Corriere Della Serra, he said, “At the beginning of this season we had to almost reset our expectations. But we are very clear on how we need to improve.”
A tough Sprint Race for @charles_leclerc, but we go again from pole position tomorrow 💪 #BelgianGP 🇧🇪 #F1 pic.twitter.com/nRbqvvNOOo
— Scuderia Ferrari (@ScuderiaFerrari) July 29, 2023
Following this, Charles Leclerc added, “I know what I want. But I still don’t know what Ferrari wants from me.” The Ferrari driver, with this, revealed that his team will bring about massive changes to make sure they don’t keep making the same mistakes.
Ferrari failing to be a top-class side despite lessons
The 2022 F1 season had a disappointing conclusion for everyone involved with Ferrari. Despite having a strong start, they lost world championships by quite a huge margin. Most of the blame for this fell on ex-team principal Mattia Binotto and the strategy team.
However, even in 2023, they haven’t really improved by learning from what went wrong last year. Numerous wrong decisions have plagued both Sainz and Leclerc’s races, and everyone associated with the team seems incredibly frustrated.
At times the drivers are the ones making the calls, and even if they seemingly make a right decision, the team ends up ignoring them. Ferrari needs to work on their development, so that they enter 2024 with a much stronger car. However, what they also need to focus on, is avoiding strategic blunders.
