Scuderia Ferrari Monegasque driver feels the Maranello team shouldn’t focus too much on the “negativity” which has been circulating the Italian side in this second part of the 2022 Formula 1 season, as the team is now preparing for the 2023 F1 campaign, with the goal of coming back stronger next year and finally challenging Red Bull and Mercedes for both world championships.
Following a positive start to the current season, with two race victories for Charles Leclerc in the first three rounds (in the Bahrain Grand Prix and the Australian Grand Prix), Ferrari fans were looking forward to the first title challenge in years, but unfortunately things gradually went downhill from that point, with the Maranello team unable to capitalize on the strong pace and the performance level of F1-75 in the first part of the season.
It is the way in which the Italian side have fallen back from Red Bull and Max Verstappen that has been the largest source of disappointment for fans. While Ferrari had the best car in the first half of the championship, several reliability issues, poor strategy calls and a few mistakes from Charles and Carlos have allowed Red Bull to easily win both titles in 2022.
The Maranello team have also gained a reputation for shooting themselves in the foot due to the technical failures and questionable strategic decisions. As a result, the social media reaction has been growing ever stronger during the 2022 Formula 1 campaign, but Charles Leclerc pointed out that he and the team shouldn’t be affected by this:
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“I don’t pay attention to that.” – the Monegasque driver said, in a recent interview for the German website Motorsport-Magazin – “I’m sure there was a lot of negativity circulating at the time, but I don’t think we should focus on that. That doesn’t help us. We have to concentrate on ourselves. At a certain point you get used to it and you just have to move on, I don’t want to focus on what is being said externally. I just look at the team and make sure they know exactly what we need to work on.” – he added.
Many fans have also hit out at Ferrari boss Mattia Binotto, who is seen as the main responsible for the team not being able to operate at the same level as Red Bull and also not being able to develop the car like the Austrian side succeeded during the year. Charles Leclerc has defended the Ferrari team principal and urged everyone to instead focus on how they can improve next season:
“We shouldn’t focus on what’s going on externally,” – the Monegasque driver, who is currently P3 in the Drivers’ Standings ahead of the Brazilian Grand Prix pointed out – “When something goes wrong, people criticise, sometimes without any reason. Formula 1 is a very complex sport and it’s very difficult to understand exactly what’s going on unless you are part of it. That’s why we shouldn’t let it drive us crazy. We have to be honest with each other internally and build on that.” – the Ferrari driver concluded.
Charles Leclerc is already looking forward to 2023 Formula One campaign, pointing out he will “do everything to become World Champion.”
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