Scuderia Ferrari driver Charles Leclerc is currently leading the Formula 1 World Championship ahead of the 2022 Australian Grand Prix, having finished first in Bahrain and second in Saudi Arabia, collecting 45 points along the way. On both occasions, the Ferrari driver found himself swapping places with Max Verstappen at the head of the race and now boasts a 20-point lead over his rival. There are still 21 races to go until the end of the 2022 Formula 1 season, with the Monegasque foreseeing many twists along the way. But he won’t draw inspiration from the fight between Lewis Hamilton fought against Max Verstappen in 2021 as he prepares to face the Dutchman in the upcoming races.
Charles Leclerc is now in his fifth season in Formula 1, but had spent the previous two years working as a test driver first for Haas and then for Sauber. During the 2016 championship, while competing in GP3, the Monegasque saw Lewis Hamilton and Nico Rosberg duel until the final in Abu Dhabi. The following season, as he got closer and closer to F1, Sebastian Vettel’s two-year battle with Hamilton saw Ferrari lose the title both times. And in 2021, the battle of Max Verstappen and Lewis Hamilton became one of the most iconic of the sport, as Charles Leclerc fought right behind the two top teams in his Ferrari.
“I haven’t actually seen much of these battles,” Charles Leclerc told the media, when asked what he could learn from title battles in the recent past. “I think I have learned more from my experiences. Every driver has his own driving style, I have mine”. Charles Leclerc described his first duels on the track with Verstappen as “hard but fair” with the pair not coming into contact or being investigated by the race stewards: “I think in a wheel-to-wheel battle, I’m strong and I’m always trying to get better,” continued Charles Leclerc. “I know Max quite well, since in karting we have had great battles and we have grown together, which I think has also helped us to grow in our own way. As I said, I learn more from my experiences than from watching others.” – the Ferrari driver explained.
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