Leclerc’s latest disappointment lacks the usual consolation
Charles Leclerc facing cameras and microphones to address a demoralizing Ferrari blunder is an unfortunately familiar sight in Formula One, having been repeated at last weekend’s Bahrain Grand Prix.
It was the latest example of what has been a dominant theme of the 2022 season. With poor reliability and other factors dooming Leclerc’s title bid, it was far from a pleasant experience to meet him face to face and discuss yet another setback.
Not surprisingly, his demeanor changed as a result of this experience.
Last year in Spain, after the first signs of Ferrari’s fragile engine that would trigger the unraveling of his championship ambitions, he bravely tried to hide his frustration and mobilize his deflated team instead. And did a good job at it.
But as he stood in front of us in Bahrain on Sunday night he looked and spoke like the Leclerc we heard about later in the 2022 season; just a little dissatisfied and not so keen on highlighting the positives.
No driver should be expected Happy in such circumstances. It’s especially unreasonable to expect too much from Leclerc when he’s just had a “Not that again…” backlash.
It just didn’t seem possible to shake it off. It must be annoying to work so hard only to find out the car just isn’t fast enough, knowing those first few weeks are looking like a case of damage limitation but Leclerc is already 25 points behind and feeling like that the championship is already a bleak prospect in the episode.
Related to reliability issues The Ferrari has priority over winter and failing at the first hurdle is anything but an isolated case.
How can you, as Leclerc himself suggested, look for positive things on a day like this?
Facing the media after a disappointment is something every driver has to go through at some point. For Leclerc, the experience dates back to the early days of his Ferrari career, when a problem in just his second race for the team – coincidentally in Bahrain – denied him a deserved first win.
Four years later, Leclerc isn’t counting on the cost of a lost win. But all that really meant was that the usual consolation for his disappointment was missing. Maybe that’s why it was so demoralizing.
Despite team principal Fred Vasseur’s claim that Ferrari could match Red Bull in the first stint, it was really just Leclerc containing second (Sergio Perez) while Max Verstappen disappeared up the road. Leclerc said he was a second off the pace.
That just wasn’t the case last year. Losing wins or podiums was, in a way, a little more palatable because the Ferrari’s sheer performance was an easy ticket to get out of prison.
It takes away some of the bitterness when a driver looks forward to getting back in the car and fighting for more wins. It represents the hope that what is lost now can later be regained.
Leclerc and Ferrari don’t have it that way this time.
Later on Sunday night there was video of Leclerc walking through the Ferrari garage, finding one by one, shaking hands and leading by example. He’s hardly the type to take it out on his teammates. He can keep going.
The concern, which will transcend any initial frustration, is simply that this disappointment is part of a broader and less than promising prospect for the season.
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