In this summer’s Formula 1, as always, the festival of obvious things is in full swing. But, on the other hand, we can’t be hypocritical: the web has to produce something to survive. So, news is treated differently. A more captivating angle is given. Situations that aren’t really a big deal are commented on through reasoned conjectures. Some succeed better at it, some worse, and some don’t even try. Or the “gossipy” world is given space, talking about girlfriends, vacations, and frivolities of that sort. All true.
As for us, the effort made to gather interesting information is significant. To avoid highlighting only certain topics, such as Felipe Massa claiming a title 15 years later, David Croft (Sky commentator) after having downed 7 pints and getting a sunburn on the beach, asserts that F1 would work better without a regulatory body (FIA), and Fernando Alonso lamenting the fact that he didn’t win with Ferrari.
Then there’s Toto Wolff reiterating that without Max Verstappen, it would be a beautiful championship, the brilliant remark by Webber stating that only reliability issues can stop Red Bull, and Lewis Hamilton criticizing long dominances as detrimental to F1, him who for seven long years displayed his smile on every podium, in almost every race, almost always on the top step.
Then there’s Carlos Sainz, a disappointed Ferrari driver: “We must accept that we are not competitive for victory.” And there’s Raymond Vermeulen, Max’s manager, “exclusively” announcing that the young talent from Hasselt won’t change teams (who on earth would with such a hyperuranic car under them). Horner reminds us not to rest on laurels at Milton Keynes, when in reality, they’re sleeping on them directly. And again, perhaps the most sensational statement of the summer of 2023, the opinion of the eccentric eighty-year-old Helmut Marko: “Max Verstappen is so strong that he could take poles even with a Haas.”
To stand out and fundamentally “take a swing at everyone,” there’s also someone who enjoys contradicting others’ writings without having even a minimum technical basis, despite claiming otherwise. Throwing some healthy rubbish at “colleagues” to appear less stinky than the latter. An action that doesn’t work at all, as it’s excitedly welcomed by a group of drunk people at a bar, entertained by a dialectic that’s certainly stimulating and amusing.
And here comes the difficult part of the article. A piece born from the “professional desperation” of having practically nothing to examine and not knowing how to move forward. The writer knows this and, while communicating with you readers, takes a moment of reflection. Then, like a bolt from the blue, a few minutes later, a dream from a few days ago comes to mind, and so the decision is made to shape it.
Ferrari/Leclerc: an imbalanced pairing
Dreaming of Charles Leclerc’s shattered dreams leads to all this. Perhaps too much F1 has gotten to our heads, but this has happened. Charles’s unwavering love for the historic Italian team is known to most. Those who don’t know it pretend not to see it or worse, deny it for who knows what reason. But this marriage seems toxic. Not in the sense of the relationship itself. Yes… Okay… Misunderstandings crop up from time to time. After all, it’s normal in a world so competitive. But the problem is another and it concerns expectations.
The Monegasque nurtures a dream since childhood: to become Formula 1 world champion with Ferrari. The Prancing Horse would agree, of course. It’s a pity that the opportunity to realize the long-desired ambition of both, until now and at the moment, hasn’t existed and doesn’t exist. An imbalanced pairing where Charles Leclerc has always more or less done his part, while the Maranello team has only partially. And so, the union doesn’t work, and a few meters down the pit lane, in the Red Bull garage, there’s someone at his same age heading towards his third world title.
The statistics speak clearly. Max Verstappen is 25 years old. His history in the top series of motorsport is already quite extensive considering his debut at a young age. Max boasts 45 wins, 27 pole positions, 27 fastest laps, 89 podiums, 8 hat tricks, 3 grands slams, 2422 laps led in a Formula 1 Grand Prix, and 2325.5 points to his name. Two world titles won and one secured long ago. A rather impressive curriculum, in short.
Charles Leclerc is also 25 years old, and this is his numerical record in terms of results: 5 wins, 20 pole positions, 7 fastest laps, 27 podiums, 2 hat tricks, 1 grand slam, 629 laps led in a Formula 1 race, and 697 points to his credit.
The comparison is not ruthless, but it becomes so when we consider the drivers’ possibilities. This is because the Ferrari driver, when compared to the Dutchman, has had significantly fewer of them. And when his car was on par or close to it, he often managed to beat the Red Bull champion, rightly idolized by the masses. Charles knows this, but accepting it is not simple. Especially when the future remains uncertain, devoid of certainties to hold on to. Almost as if it would be easier for Charles Leclerc to drive a Haas. In that context, disappointments tied to expectations would undoubtedly be minor.
Ferrari: Leclerc’s golden opportunity
The treated theme doesn’t deviate from this atmosphere of banality described earlier, a topic already discussed and mulled over by many. However, there’s a point that perhaps within this subject is seldom touched upon. Spending a significant part of one’s career at Ferrari implies remaining in the realm of legend nonetheless. Not winning sometimes still means being winners in any case. As in the case of Fernando Alonso in the 2012 season, a championship lost accompanied by an indelible fact: Fernando deserved that title more than Sebastian Vettel, demonstrating multiple times the ability to interpret a “disadvantaged single-seater” to the best.
We can’t know if the same will happen to Charles Leclerc. Also because we are talking about a different technical era where Red Bull’s dominance, among other things, wasn’t so overwhelming. Nonetheless, in Charles’s hands, a greater opportunity remains alive as he continues to wear the red suit. The one that one day would lead him to glory, capturing what slipped from Alonso’s grasp at its peak: becoming a world champion with Ferrari. A title that would have a different taste. Probably claiming that winning a championship with the red team is worth at least 5 championships with any other team is nonsense. The fact remains that lifting the trophy as the best dressed in red would mean eternally binding one’s name to the history of F1. Apologies if the originality of the piece isn’t great… but as David Croft himself would say, “the summer will make its own formula.”
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