Former racing driver from Northern Ireland Eddie Irvine, who raced for Scuderia Ferrari in Formula 1 for four seasons, between 1996 and 1999, is confident Charles Leclerc will be able to bring the Formula 1 title back to Maranello this season and feels that the Monegasque to be a stronger driver than Red Bull’s Max Verstappen as the two look set to battle for supremacy in 2022.
Eddie Irvine, who during his Ferrari career took four race wins, 23 podium finished and also came close to winning the 1999 Drivers’ Championship, believes that Max Verstappen’s aggressive style means he simply makes too many errors of judgement, while Charles Leclerc is able to better evaluate the situations that occur during the race and capitalize on any opportunity.
The Northern Irishman was asked about what seems to be a thrilling and intense title battle between Scuderia Ferrari Charles Leclerc and 2021 F1 world champion Max Verstappen, backing the young Monegasque driver to win the duel against his illustrious opponent, even if Max Verstappen may even be the quicker of the two.
“I don’t believe anyone is faster than Verstappen, but he still makes a lot of mistakes. Charles Leclerc doesn’t do that,” Eddie Irvine said, in a recent inteview for the Italian publication La Gazzetto dello Sport. When pointed out to him that Charles also made some mistakes during the previous two years, like the crash in the qualifying session for the 2021 Monaco Grand Prix, which prevented him from starting the race on Sunday, Eddie Irvine explained that he was referring more to errors of when to use aggression, rather than a driving mistake for being on the limit especially with an inferior car.
“Having such an incident in qualifying is generally not so relevant,” he explained – “Verstappen makes the mistake of always letting himself be carried away in terms of aggressiveness.”
Eddie Irvine, who after leaving Scuderia Ferrari joined the Jaguar team and raced for three more seasons before retiring from Formula 1, opened up on why he thinks Charles Leclerc is a superior talent to Max Verstappen.
“[Leclerc] is very intelligent, has a personality, and is mature,” Eddie Irvine added – “[In] that way Verstappen seems a bit ‘younger’ to me mentally, but he has been given a lot of talent. Leclerc and Verstappen are both very strong. [Lewis] Hamilton is also exceptional, even though I don’t think he has the same speed as Verstappen. Max reminds me of [Michael] Schumacher. He can keep a great race pace and no one who is driving in the same car comes near him.” – he added.
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Charles Leclerc is in a strong position after three races of the 2022 Formula One championship, as a result of his victories in Bahrain and Australia, alongside the solid second place finish in Saudi Arabia, but Eddie Irvine warns that Scuderia Ferrari has to continue working hard in order to keep a championship challenge over such a long year, especially againt a Red Bull team which is known for being able to strongly develop the car during the season:.
“It’s too early to say and every year that goes by it gets more difficult,” he said – “You have to compete against Red Bull, Verstappen, and Adrian Newey. That is very difficult.” – the former Ferrari driver concluded.
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