British former racing driver and current television announcer for Sky Sports F1, Johnny Herbert, feels Scuderia Ferrari Monegasque driver Charles Leclerc has the mental fortitude needed to put disappointment from the Monaco Grand Prix behind him and refocus on the Formula 1 title battle with Max Verstappen, ahead of the Azerbaijan Grand Prix this weekend.
Despite the fact that Charles Leclerc’s series of retirements in Monte Carlo ended this year, the outcome of the Monaco Grand Prix was still a disappointing one for the Ferrari driver, who had to settle for fourth place in front of his own fans, after starting from pole position and leading until the pit stop moments.
After taking an impressive pole position on Saturday, Charles needed a clear race just to defend first place on a track where overtaking is notoriously difficult, but everything fell apart due to a series of strategy mistakes made by the Maranello team, on a track that getting dry. Charles thus finished outside the podium, with Sergio Perez scoring his first win of the 2022 Formula One season, followed by Ferrari’s Carlos Sainz and the other Red Bull of Max Verstappen.
As a result, Charles Leclerc’s gap to Max Verstappen increased to nine points in the Drivers’ standings, as the Italian side fell 36 points behind rivals Red Bull, ahead of the Baku weekend:
“I hope they travel to Azerbaijan in a positive mood,” the Sky Sports said, as reported by Motorsport.com. “Last year Charles was on pole position and we know that their car has become a serious blow compared to last season.”
The F1-75 car seems capable of challenging Red Bull on any type of track, but for now the same cannot always be said of Ferrari who were criticized by pundits after their mistakes in Monte Carlo. Johnny Herbert is confident Charles Leclerc will be able to put his disappointment behind him, especially because he “knows he has a strong car that can win races. Ferrari didn’t have a very good tactical performance there [Monaco],” he continued.
“They took away from Charles the chance to win, but he is a powerful guy with a strong mind. That’s why he sometimes does very clever things. He’s the kind of person who can have a bad race, that gets stuck somewhere in the back of his mind, but then he carries on in a powerful way.” – the British former racing driver added.
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Scuderia Ferrari desperately need a positive weekend in Baku given the fact that Red Bull arrive in Azerbaijan after four consecutive race wins, but Johnny Herbert believes the Maranello team can turn things around in this next round of the 2022 Formula 1 campaign. Despite the fact that Charles Leclerc was able to take pole position last season in Baku, the Monegasque driver could not keep up with Red Bull and Mercedes in terms of race pace. As a result, he soon lost any chance of finishing on the podium, with championship rivals Lewis Hamilton and Verstappen, as well as the other Red Bull of Sergio Perez, easily getting past him.
However, Johnny Herbert feels this year things will be different for Ferrari and Charles Leclerc:
“Maybe a bit of luck should fall his way,” he said. “If that happens he will be able to dominate races. I think the grand prix in Azerbaijan is the ideal place for Ferrari to win again. In the last two races it seemed to come his way but then he got hit with bad luck. I’m looking forward to seeing how strong they are going to come out, but I think they’ll get back on track.” – the Sky Sports F1 television announcer concluded.
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