Austrian former Formula One racing driver Gerhard Berger, who finished 3rd overall in the championship on two occasions (1988 and 1994), both times driving for Scuderia Ferrari, feels that Max Verstappen’s “brilliant” race management and the solid strategy decisions made by Red Bull could be the key factors in this battle for the 2022 Formula 1 championships.
Ahead of the French Grand Prix this weekend, Max Verstappen has a solid 38-point advantage over Scuderia Ferrari Monegasque driver Charles Leclerc as we have reached the halfway mark of the 2022 Formula 1 campaign, with the duel between their sides ebbing and flowing. Charles Leclerc took two race wins from the first three races of the current season, in Bahrain and Australia, but the Dutchman hit back as a result of five wins out of the following six race, several times not due to pure pace, but rather taking advantage of the reliability issues suffered by the Maranello team, as well as some poor strategy calls.
While things seemed to go in Red Bull’s favour, Ferrari won the last two events, thanks to Carlos Sainz at the Silverstone Circuit and Charles Leclerc in Austria, but Gerhard Berger still feels that Max Verstappen has a crucial advantage for the second part of the championship.
In a recent interview for the F1 Nation podcast, the 10-time Grand Prix winner – who raced six seasons for the Maranello team, in two different periods, was asked to share his thoughts on the duel between Max Verstappen and Charles Leclerc.
“Leclerc has impressed me with his talent, with his speed on one lap in qualifying – he’s doing very, very well. [But] in the racecraft, I have seen a little bit of an advantage to Max. He’s brilliant over the whole race, using every possibility. He’s very strong at overtaking, he’s very strong in wheel-to-wheel fighting and he’s very strong at reading the race. Combine this with the strategy of Red Bull, who are extremely good, and the good pit-stops of Red Bull… I think it’s nearly an unbeatable package.” – Gerhard Berger explained.
The Austrian former Formula One racing driver added that he believes the Dutchman has further improved as compared to the previous season, when he won the F1 title against Lewis Hamilton, while seeing room for improvement with Charles Leclerc, who is facing his first season with a car capable of challenging for the world championship:
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“I think Verstappen is even better than last year. I think to win a championship, it takes a lot of pressure away from you.” – he added.
As for Charles Leclerc, Gerhard Berger continued: “He did one or two mistakes this year, which shouldn’t happen when he’s really serious for the championship. At Imola [with the spin] at the chicane, just finish third and take the points. This is where Lewis [Hamilton] impresses me so much. Lewis is always there and, whenever the door is open, he’s on the podium and takes the points. In these areas Leclerc still needs a little bit of experience, but in general he is absolutely a guy who can win championships.” – the former Ferrari driver concluded.
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