“I Would Give Precise Orders,” Eddie Irvine advises Ferrari to protect Charles Leclerc by being prim and proper in their decision-making

“I Would Give Precise Orders,” Eddie Irvine advises Ferrari to protect Charles Leclerc by being prim and proper in their decision-making

Charles Leclerc

Former Formula 1 racer and 1999 F1 season runner-up Eddie Irvine is now weighing in on the debate of whether Scuderia Ferrari can get Charles Leclerc his deserved World Championship win. Irvine, a former Scuderia driver himself, feels that Ferrari needs to give more specific team orders like they did in the olden days, for Leclerc to succeed.

With the announcement of new technical regulations for the Formula 1 2022 season, FIA has put an end to the turbo-hybrid era. In this new season, Ferrari has come up as a front-runner with their SF-75 which has already helped Charles Leclerc win two of the first three races of the year. With such results, Leclerc has come to the top of the Drivers’ Standings and Ferrari is currently leading the Constructors’ Championship table.

But this season will show us some close battles as Charles Leclerc alone is not aiming for the Championship title. Last year’s World Champion Max Verstappen is hungry for a second run at the much-coveted-for title and his RB-18 has already given him a race win at Jeddah too. As we saw in Bahrain and in the Saudi Arabian Grand Prix, Max and Charles locked horns for a thrilling race track fight for the first position.

FS Video

All things considered, ex-Ferrark driver Eddy Irvine believes Charles Leclerc needs more than pure talent to beat Verstappen to win the Championship.

Eddy Irvine calls for “precise orders” from Ferrari Team Principal Mattia Binotto for Charles Leclerc to win the Championship

Scuderia Ferrari drivers Charles LeClerc(on the left) and Carlos Sainz Jr. (on the right)
Scuderia Ferrari drivers Charles LeClerc(on the left) and Carlos Sainz Jr. (on the right)

Eddy Irvine has observed the driver dynamics between the Ferrari pair of Charles Leclerc and Carlos Sainz Jr., and the Red Bull pair of Max Verstappen and Sergio Perez. In his opinion, Sainz Jr. can pose a problem for his Monegasque teammate when it comes to winning races in this F1 season due to their almost-equal potential.

Carlos Sainz left McLaren for Ferrari in 2021 and even though he is new to the team, he has displayed amazing performance. Irvine said that, Ferrari needs to impose some strict team orders on Carlos to protect the interest of Charles Leclerc. He cited his own example in this case as he was the second driver in Ferrari when he partnered Michael Schumacher.

Irvine said, “This is a problem for Charles because Sainz, who is number two, can occasionally find himself in front of him.”

“If I were Mattia [Binotto] I would give precise orders, as in my day, because beating Verstappen is already tough. If you then have also a team-mate who can snatch points away from you–“

“As for Perez, in normal conditions he can’t beat Max.”

Irvine also commented that Max Verstappen is arguably the fastest F1 driver on the track but he is prone to making more mistakes than Charles. “I don’t think there is anyone faster than Verstappen, but he still makes a lot of mistakes and Leclerc doesn’t,” he said.

Read More: Franz Tost gives insights into Yuki Tsunoda’s “upsurge” in form during 2022