Charles Leclerc reflects on ‘mindset change’ that led him to push too hard at Imola. Charles reflects on 'mindset change' in Imola.

Ahead of the 2022 Miami Grand Prix, Scuderia Ferrari Monegasque driver Charles Leclerc looked back on the unfortunate outcome of the previous round, in Italy and confirmed that right up until the lap he crashed into the barriers at Imola while chasing down second place, he was okay settling for third. But then his “mindset changed”.

The Ferrari driver had a great start in the Sprint race at Imola, but unfortunately was not able to repeat the perfect start on Sunday in the main race, which dropped him down to fourth and ended any chance of fighting with Max Verstappen for the race win. However, a third place behind the Red Bull driver was basically secured for Charles Leclerc at the Emilia Romagna Grand Prix, as the championship leader was running behind the faster cars of Sergio Perez and Max Verstappen.

On a weekend during which Red Bull faster than Ferrari, Charles was set to lose points to Max Verstappen but only seven which meant he would leave Italy with his lead in the championship fight still more than 30 points. However, the Ferrari driver admits his mindset “changed” that lap, the one that saw him push too hard and be too aggressive over the kerbs at the Variante Alta chicane as he attempted to recover the gap to Sergio Perez.

Asked about his crash at Imola in an interview for ESPN ahead of the Miami Grand Prix, Charles said: “I think on that particular lap I saw an opportunity. Throughout the race I had been very honest with myself and I thought Red Bull was too quick for us. Third place was the place we deserved through the weekend because we just weren’t as quick as Red Bull. But on that particular lap my mindset changed and I saw the opportunity to go for second, and I took more risk than I should have done instead of just taking the third place home. Again, looking back at it, it is always this balance that you need find as a driver and how much risk you are going to take and how much reward it is going to give you.Taking the second place that day was something that was not expected and it would have been great, but it didn’t happen and I lost a few points. It’s something I will continue to think about and maybe change the approach in those situations.” – he added.

Charles Leclerc, who ahead of the 2022 Formula 1 championship had only won two race victores, managed to double his overall tally to four victories in the start of the current campaign and still has a solid 27-point lead in the Drivers’ Championship race ahead of the Miami event:

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“It feels really good, first of all, especially after the last few years that have been very difficult for the whole team. We have been struggling a lot with performance, and to be fighting for sixth, eighth and tenth place, even if you are doing the perfect job, it is difficult for a team like Ferrari and for myself, so to be back at the top feels amazing. Whether it feels any different to what I experienced before getting to Formula One, not really. Of course you have a bit more pressure and expectations, but that doesn’t change much for me. The approach is the same as I had back in the past.” – the Ferrari driver concluded.