With the victory secured last weekend at the Red Bull Ring in Spielberg, Scuderia Ferrari Monegasque driver Charles Leclerc has taken off a considerable weight his shoulder, after five Grands Prix marked but a series of bad luck and penalizing choices made by the Maranello team’s pit wall. From the Spanish Grand Prix onwards, the Monegasque had never been on the podium, and so Max Verstappen was able to extend his lead in the Drivers’ standings.
The Dutchman de did it with the strength given by last year’s world championship, with the awareness of his ability and skills: nothing to say about Max Verstappen, who didn’t miss any opportunity to take advantage of the Charles Leclerc’s misfortunes in this first part of the 2022 Formula One season. According to former Scuderia Ferrari driver Jean Alesi, however, it was Charles Leclerc who offered fans the most beautiful emotions thanks to his great driving this season, despite the fact that reliability issues and strategy decisions have hampered his attempts of challenging the 2021 F1 world champion.
“There is nothing comparable to the emotions that Charles Leclerc gives us every Sunday. I think he is the driver who […] for years has made me anxiously wait for a race and then watch a grand prix with the utmost attention […] He attacks and overtakes, performs high-class maneuvers “, wrote the former Ferrari driver in his column for the Italian daily newspaper Corriere della Sera. “I think the car is capable of winning everywhere. Reliability is lacking and it is a pity. But it is better to reinforce a competitive car than to race with a reliable and slow car. I am thinking of Mercedes: solid but distant.”
The Frenchman then addressed the issue of a potential internal battle between Charles Leclerc and teammate Carlos Sainz. After the Austrian Grand Prix at the Red Bull Ring, Scuderia Ferrari found some internal serenity, which was momentarily lost given the events which took place in the previous round of the 2022 Formula 1 season at Silverstone. And Charles Leclerc’s 37 point advantage over his Maranello teammate could determine Ferrari to make choices to protect its top driver.
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However, Jean Alesi believes that a fight between Charles Leclerc and Carlos Sainz is preferable as long as this does not compromise Ferrari’s chances from a world championship standpoint: “Unlike what has been said, there was no counterproductive fight. Charles was trying to save tires at the start, Carlos had a great start and attacked and then left room for his team-mate to recover. There was nothing that compromised the run-up to Verstappen […] It is right for Carlos to feel he is in contention for the race win, this is useful for the team, as long as its done without excessive fighting.” – Jean Alesi concluded.
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