“I was probably too greedy in France,” Charles Leclerc denies that his mistakes came from ‘over-compensating’
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Charles Leclerc (Images through IMAGO / HochZwei)
Ferrari have certainly not been at their best in 2022. While the car was certainly competitive (at least in the first half of the season), they themselves made errors during the races. Even after you excuse the reliability issues, there were slow pitstops and even a missing tyre during one in Zandvoort, and…questionable strategy calls.
But everything is bigger at Ferrari. Success, failure, mistakes, errors. Their popularity comes with extreme scrutiny and very high expectations, which they have sadly failed to meet this season. Even the drivers themselves have not been faultless. Charles Leclerc made two notable mistakes in Imola and France, costing him around 32 points, and Carlos Sainz did so in Australia, and more recently, Japan.
There was some feeling that Leclerc’s mistakes in particular came from the pressure Ferrari’s own problems put on them, but the Monegasque denies this. In conversation with RacingNews365.com, he said: “I don’t think when I did the mistakes, I had to compensate for anything. It was just obviously motivation to do in [Ferrari’s home race at] Imola, and then in France, yes, I did the mistake.”
Charles Leclerc: “I’m very happy with the season.”
Max Verstappen has run away with the title this season, sealing it in Japan with four races to go, ironically through a Charles Leclerc last-lap error. He is currently 114 points ahead of the Monegasque, while he was 46 points behind after Australia. It’s quite the turn-around, and it happened extremely quickly as well.
Leclerc’s mistakes did play a part in it, especially in France. While he acknowledges that, he denies that they were from over-compensation: “For me, it’s not this. I try to push the limits all the time, and then there was this big mistake in France and smaller one in Imola. I cannot change it. I feel like it is being talked [about] much more than it should be. So yes, I was probably too greedy in France when there was no need to be greedy at that moment of the race.”
Leclerc has made mistakes, but he and Ferrari will now use their setbacks as a learning experience, saying: “Honestly, I’m very happy with this season. Of course we’re always going to talk about my mistakes in Imola and in France, but in over 23 races – we have too many now – there’s always going to be a mistake at one point or another, and especially [when you are] pushing for the limit.”
This year was the first time Charles Leclerc (and Carlos Sainz) had a car that they could consistently compete for victories with, even if he did win 2 races in 2019. This, he said, was a far more comfortable situation than 2020 or 2021, where he was in the midfield battle.
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Aniket Tripathi
(1002 Articles Published)