Ferrari’s Sporting Director has backed Leclerc
Formula 1: Ferrari have backed their Monegasque driver Charles Leclerc and the team’s sporting director Laurent Mekies has urged him not to change his driving style following his mistakes on track in the 2022 F1 season. Follow the LIVE updates of Formula 1 and the Belgian GP on InsideSport.IN
Speaking to Autosprint, Ferrari’s sporting director said: “I wouldn’t say Leclerc is any more emotional than that [team-mate Carlos] Sainz. Both guys have had ups and downs this season – the latter very painful – and in both cases if they go back to the garage and analyze what happened, also using the data, they can reset everything and go into learning mode. ”
“Also this year Leclerc has shown that he has such exceptional speed that this is an aspect that should not be touched on. Charles doesn’t need us to understand how far he needs to go in terms of being close to the limit as a great rider. He’s a master at that and mistakes can happen just like us. Let’s not look at the individual mistake, but at the percentage of Charles’ sensational performances that was actually exceptional on many more occasions than when he made a mistake. And we don’t want anything to change.” Added Mekies.
“It is necessary to distinguish what you hear on the radio during the race in the heat of the moment from the rest. They are two different things. If they get out of the car and analyze everything, after an hour they no longer have any negative emotions and are even more motivated.” Mekies closed.
The Monegasque was Red Bull’s Max Verstappen’s closest opponent but all in all Leclerc has fallen 80 points adrift of the reigning champion. The gap between the two teams is significantly wider, with Red Bull currently holding a 97-point lead over the Prancing Horse.
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In general, the problems Ferrari faced were beyond Leclerc’s control. He hasn’t had the opportunity to meaningfully change the drive unit reliability issues that have plagued them, nor has he had the opportunity to make a difference with some poor strategic decisions the team has made up to this point.
Meanwhile, he’s quick to admit he doesn’t blame anyone for his mistakes other than himself, which have proved costly for the young driver. The first came at Imola this year, where he spun in the Alta chicane variant while driving too hard to catch Red Bull’s Sergio Perez.
In this case, he stayed away from damage and even scored points. However, he was unlucky at the French Grand Prix when he lost control of the rear of his F1-75 challenger and fell, allowing Verstappen to move up 25 points in the drivers’ standings. What’s more, Leclerc took full responsibility for the crash, saying he was solely to blame if he failed to challenge Verstappen for the title.
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