Ferrari had confidence Charles Leclerc could become a very strong leader for the team

Regardless of all the technical advances and improvements in the 2022 Formula One season, a major part of the Maranello team’s recently found success is also because of the man in the cockpit. The gamble on Chares Leclerc’s talent and potential three years ago has more than paid off, as the Monegasque driver has proved he can be the man to bring Ferrari back on top, but of course only with the help of the team itself.

Charles Leclerc has secured five pole positions this season ahead of the Azerbaijan Grand Prix and he would have four wins rather than two but for a power unit failure at the Circuit de Catalunya in Barcelona and the Italian side making some bad strategy calls one week later on the streets of Monte Carlo in Monaco.

Charles Leclerc outperformed four-time Formula One world champion Sebastian Vettel to such an extent in the 2019 season that team principal Mattia Binotto made the decision not to renew the German driver’s contract at the end of the Covid-delayed 2020 season before it had even started.

“We knew Charles had very high potential,” Mattia Binotto explained – “When we put him in our car in 2019, he proved in the first season to be very strong and talented. The way he was attacking, defending and driving proved what he could do. We knew he had to improve in terms of maturity, leadership and tyre management, and I think, as the seasons passed, it gave us the confidence he could do that and would become a fantastic driver. We had the confidence he could be a driver who can win world championships and become a very strong leader for the team.” – the Ferrari boss added.

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Mattia Binotto also has praise for his second driver, Carlos Sainz, despite the fact that the Spanish driver has not had an idea start to the current Formula 1 campaign, due to some mistakes that have prevented him from matching his Maranello teammate so far, as Charles Leclerc is more at home with the F1-75 challenger which tends to have a loose rear end. Carlos Sainz, Mattia Binotto says, is “very fast and I am pretty sure he can win championships as well”.