Johnny Herbert believes Charles Leclerc "faces more pressure than Hamilton or Verstappen"

Johnny Herbert believes Charles Leclerc “faces more pressure than Hamilton or Verstappen”. Herbert feels Charles has more pressure on his shoulders.

In Formula 1 it is sometimes said that winning a world title at the wheel of a Ferrari is equivalent to winning more championships for any other team. It cannot be assumed that this is always the case and certainly many great drivers, from Jim Clark to Lewis Hamilton, passing through other legends such as Jackie Stewart or Ayrton Senna, have become motorsport legends even without ever having raced for the Prancing Horse. However, it is certainly true that racing in the red overalls brings much greater media attention and pressure to a driver than that which can be felt in any other team.

The attention that the Italian and non-Italian public gives to the events of Scuderia Ferrari cannot be compared with that of any other team in the world of motorsport. Starting from this assumption, former British driver Johnny Herbert, now a television commentator in his country, wanted to defend vice-world champion Charles Leclerc, a point of reference for Ferrari. In the 2023 Formula One season, the Monegasque driver is expected to challenge his rival Max Verstappen, in the hope that this time the Maranello team will be able to provide him with a much more reliable car:

“There is pressure on Charles – said Michael Schumacher’s former teammate in Benetton in a recent interview for the German site Total-Motorsport.com – “Because of the fans, the Italian media and Ferrari itself”.

The idea expressed by the 58-year-old from Brentwood is that, from this point of view, the young Monegasque starts at a disadvantage compared to rivals such as the reigning world champion himself or Lewis Hamilton: “Just being a Ferrari driver brings pressure which I don’t think Max or Lewis have. Toto [Wolff] and Mercedes, Christian [Horner] and Red Bull try to take that pressure off their drivers to allow them to breathe more easily. I think that’s where they have been able to deliver more consistently throughout the season.” – Johnny Herbert pointed out.