Scuderia Ferrari Monegasque driver and current Formula 1 world championship leader Charles Leclerc feels that he has made significant progress as a driver since the 2021 Formula One season, but at the same time he does not like being labelled ‘Charles 2.0’.
Charles Leclerc scored an incredible race win in the first round of the 2022 F1 campaign at the Bahrain International Circuit and came very close to making it two out of two seven days later at the Jeddah Corniche Circuit, as Charles was narrowly defeated by Red Bull’s Max Verstappen in Saudi Arabia. Now the battle has moved to Melbourne and the Monegasque driver looks to continue the strong form as he set the pace in today’s Friday practice at the Australian Grand Prix.
Ahead of the third round of the 2022 Formula 1 season, Charles Leclerc leads World Drivers Standings for the first time in his career as a result and has been hailed by Ferrari as driving like someone capable of fighting for the title this year. That has also prompted focus on Charles Leclerc ’s development as a driver in his relatively short Formula 1 career, and Ferrari former test driver and current ambassador Marc Gene even said that he feels Charles can be described as ‘Leclerc 2.0’ in this start of the new championship.
While it was meant as a compliment, the Monegasque driver does not agree with the statement. In a recent interview, the Ferrari driver was asked if he feels he was performing at the same level last year or had taken another step in 2022: “One thing that I don’t like – I’ve seen it everywhere and I don’t like to see it – is ‘Charles 2.0’. This is not the case. I’ve had growth from year to year that is linear.” – he explained.
Charles Leclerc was considered one of the best performers drivers last season, despite the fact that Ferrari’s 2020 F1 car did not allow him to challenge for race wins. He still took two pole positions and had a best finish of second at the Silverstone Circuit, although his Maranello team-mate Carlos Sainz scored three more podiums and finished higher in the overall championship.
Continuing his answer, Charles Leclerc said: “Last year I never liked to put luck into place but honestly there were two races in particular where I lost many points, many valuable points, that weren’t too much in my control and this cost massively at the end of the year. And also fighting between seventh and fourth position, whenever you are doing a good performance nobody is noticing it, which makes it quite tricky. Of course I probably am even better now that I’m fighting for wins because this is what I like to do and it’s great to be back here. But overall, I think it’s just linear growth from year to year and there’s not a huge step from last year.” – he added.
Charles Leclerc won two grands prix in his first season with Ferrari in 2019, which followed a very impressive rookie campaign at Sauber. While extremely fast and an exciting prospect back then, he is more consistent now and has proved in the first two events this year that he is capable of controlling extreme high-pressure moments, such as the close battles with Max Verstappen.
Asked how he has seemed to pass various tests of increasing pressure and difficulty through his career, Charles Leclerc said: “Yeah, it’s a good situation to be in. To have more pressure means you are doing something right and that you are in the right place. I never particularly struggled with pressure, I have a mindset that is just focusing on myself and the job I have to do in the car, not thinking too much about the results and all the things that are around. But obviously seeing the last two years that have been very difficult and now to be back at the top gives a lot of motivation to the whole team, to me and it’s good to be here.”.- the Ferrari driver concluded.
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