Scuderia Ferrari Monegasque driver Charles Leclerc confirmed that the Maranello team have to avoid being distracted and stay united given the recent rumours regarding the future of Ferrari boss Mattia Binotto, as the Italian side is ready to race in front of its own fans at the Monza circuit.
Following a very promising start to the 2022 Formula 1 campaign, Charles Leclerc and Ferrari seemed on the right track to finally challenge for a world championship title for the first time 2008. Unfortunately, after two race wins in the first three races of the season, many reliability issues and a series of poor strategy calls have allowed Max Verstappen and his Red Bull team to easily extend their advantage in front of the standings.
A horrendous pit stop confusion for Carlos Sainz in the previous round of the 2022 Formula 1 season, at Zandvoort, was the latest in a series of incredible mistakes from the Maranello team in 2022. Despite some unjustifiable errors, Ferrari boss Mattia Binotto rejected former F1 world champion Nico Rosberg’s comments and suggestion that Ferrari should make personnel changes in order to improve and be able to challenge Red Bull next season.
Given the fact that the spotlight is on Ferrari at its brightest this weekend, with the fans ready to return to the stands at Monza, Charles Leclerc was asked in Thursday’s press conference about the recent rumours that Mattia Binotto may have to step down as Ferrari team principal at the end of the season:
“There are always rumours around a Formula 1 team and especially with Ferrari but I think what is important in those moments is not to get distracted with whatever is being said. We are very united as a team and I think we need to keep on going like this. We’ve shown that we’ve been great from last year to this year with this kind of performance and we need to keep going in that direction. I didn’t hear that rumour in particular but obviously we have to focus on our own job.” – the Monegasque driver explained.
Charles Leclerc finished in Dutch Grand Prix in third place, but that was only his second podium finish during the last ten rounds, which have led to Max Verstappen becoming a clear favourite to win the title. Now Charles is aware that the Italian Grand Prix might be a “difficult weekend” for the Maranello team, because the track layout and characteristics of the Monza circuit are similar to those of Circuit de Spa-Francorchamps, where Red Bull and Max Verstappen completely dominated the race: the Dutchman won despite starting from P14 on the grid, while his teammate Sergio Perez finished in second place:
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“I think it’s going to be a bit of a difficult weekend. On paper, at least, it’s going to be a difficult weekend. We expect Red Bull to be stronger. The track characteristics don’t exactly fit our car. But again, we’ve had some good and bad surprises this year, so hopefully this one is one of the good ones and that we overperform compared to what we expect.” – Scuderia Ferrari Monegasque driver Charles Leclerc concluded.
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