Spanish professional racing driver and current Ferrari ambassador Marc Gene feels that Charles Leclerc has evolved in “mindset and mentality” as 24-year-old driver targets a first Formula 1 World Championship title this season. Charles Leclerc has had an almost perfect start to the new campaign, with an amazing race win in the Bahrain Grand Prix, followed by a second place finish at the Jeddah Corniche Circuit in the Saudi Arabian Grand Prix, when he came very close to another race victory. The much-improved Ferrari package has allowed Charles to show his true potential and the Monegasque is currently leading the drivers’ standings, while the Maranello team comfortably top the teams’ table ahead of the Australian Grand Prix.
Speaking in the official Formula 1 “F1 Nation” podcast which was recorded after Charles Leclerc’s Bahrain Grand Prix win from pole position, Marc Gene opened up on how Charles Leclerc has changed for the 2022 Formula 1 championship:
“Charles, he used to be very emotional and this year he has changed a lot. Charles is like a 2.0 version of himself. When I went to Barcelona for the private testing, we spent a lot of time together and he was completely changed in his mindset and his mentality, and you can see it.” – the Ferrari test driver explained, as reported by the F1 official website – “[In Bahrain] I was expecting Charles to be more over the moon after qualifying, after the pole, and the race, but he seemed so much more mature and aware that this is a very long championship.” – he added.
Marc Gene, who made his Formula 1 debut with Italian outfit Minardi in 1999, then tested for Williams and – alongside Luca Badoer – became Ferrari’s test driver in 2005, also credited Team Principal Mattia Binotto and driver Carlos Sainz for the calmness within the Maranello team, as they look to once again fight for the most ambitious targets after several difficult years:
“I think Mattia, Charles and Carlos are going to be very important in keeping these emotions that we Italians, we tend to have. So, I leave that to the tifosi. But the three main characters of this team, which are the two drivers and the team principal, they are not emotional; Mattia is half Swiss [and the calmness] you can see with Carlos, it comes from his father.” – he continued.
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Ferrari seem ready to challenge Red Bull and pry the constructors’ trophy away from Mercedes, as Marc Gene confirms that the Italian side is eager to usher in a new dynasty – even if the positive moment may not last as long as Mercedes’: “I think cycles cannot be beyond the one that Mercedes has had any longer; that is the longest probably that we will see in F1 history. But definitely [Ferrari’s] group of people are ready to open a new era.I always say you learn more from the bad years than from the good years and now that we have a good car, we are ready for a new era I think, because it is the same people that suffered so much.” – Marc Gene concluded.
