Charles Leclerc already has his sights set on the 2023 F1 World Championship title
Charles Leclerc finishes the 2022 season in second place in the championship. A poor consolation considering the Ferrari's performance this year. The Monegasque driver looks back at the Abu Dhabi Grand Prix, which enabled him to claim the honorary title of runner-up.
The final result is not what Charles Leclerc had hoped for at the beginning of the season, but after finishing the season with the honorary title of Formula 1 vice-world champion, he is focusing on the next season. Leclerc hopes to be able to be in the running for the title in 2023.
The progress of Scuderia Ferrari was notable in 2022, however, the team needs to focus on the race pace of their car, which is one of the major shortcomings of this season compared to Red Bull.
I really hope that next year we will be able to take a step forward and fight for the title. But considering where we were last year, it’s a huge step forward. I think we made progress towards the end of the season in terms of strategy. We still need to work on race pace, as we seem to struggle a bit more on Sundays. But we will work hard this winter to catch up with Red Bull.
Way too many mistakes in 2022
The 2022 season started well for Leclerc who won in Bahrain ahead of his teammate. The two drivers achieved the first double for the team since the Singapore Grand Prix in 2019, an eternity in the world of Formula 1. This fantastic start to the season for the Monegasque driver continued with a magnificent battle for victory in Jeddah and a second win in Australia.
But the euphoria quickly collapsed for Leclerc with a few driving errors at Imola and in France. However, the biggest burden of this 2022 season is the management of Ferrari’s catastrophic strategy (Spa, Silverstone, Hungary) which will lead to unacceptable results. The Italian team must regain its composure in 2023 to not let the world title slip away from them, as it seemed within their grasp.
