Charles Leclerc has all it takes to challenge for the Formula 1 world title. But Ferrari will have to be good at giving the Monegasque driver a car good enough to allow him to fight for the entire championship. In short, you will need a title car.
This is how Jock Clear, director of the Ferrari Driver Academy, spoke to the F1 Nations podcast. Actually. the British engineer born in Portsmouth said much more. He spoke about Leclerc’s evolution as a driver, which led him not only to be the best in qualifying ever seen – so Clear said – but also to grow exponentially in the race, with truly effective tire management and as a great driver Which.
“Charles has everything it takes to become a world champion,” Clear immediately clarified. “I’ve been saying this since 2018, obviously, when we work with him in the Academy. We saw all the right things at all the right stages. He has qualifying pace. My God, he has, I mean, I honestly think he’s the best qualifying driver that we’ve seen. It’s difficult to trace Michael, Mika and others, but he is definitely the best in qualifying.”
“And his management of the race. If you look at Monza, it’s an exception when, when, when everything is aligned, he manages to give his best. It’s one of those things I’ve often fought against, without naming names , but if I tell you the words, you’ll know exactly who they’re from. There was a lot of, “We pay him a lot of money, he just has to drive the car […]”. And if you think that’s all it’s about, you’re missing out, because there’s a lot of stuff that needs to be done to get all the necessary things lined up. So the only hesitation I would have is that Charles hasn’t been in a situation yet where, I mean, 2022 has been a good example.”
“And I think that looking at 2022 we can say: was it really a chance for Ferrari to win a world championship? We have to say yes, because at a certain point we had a 40 point lead in the championship or in the drivers’ championship, and we were in able to beat Max at many circuits, so we weren’t ready as a team. And I think, the way the development went, Red Bull overtook us at the end of the year. And certainly not all the ducks aligned, but certainly , you know, there were things that Charles would say that weren’t at a championship level during that year, in everything that we did, but that’s exactly the point: You’re not going to win a championship until everyone is at that level.”
Charles Leclerc, Ferrari SF-24
Photo by: Steven Tee / Motorsport Images
“It’s unfair to say that Mercedes won all the championships just because they had the best car. They had all the best. And the same goes for Max in the last three years: he was very good, but Red Bull was very good. So when Charles performs at that level, we will have to perform at that level with him. And when I say “with confidence”, I say that we will all perform at that level. I know that he can do what is required when all of us are at that level. So when we are in a position where we can offer a car capable of competing for the championship, which I believe is now upon us, Charles will do his part. “,
In 2024 we are seeing a much stronger Ferrari in the race compared to recent seasons. The points, after all, are distributed at the end of the race, while in Qualifying, taking pole and then not finishing on Sunday makes little sense.
“We all know what Charles is capable of. We’ve seen it over the course of a few years and his reputation in qualifying has certainly solidified over those years, so much so that people tended to say to me: “Two years ago, three years ago, yes, but he’s not as good in the race as he was in qualifying.” And you think, “Well, that’s not right. It’s just that he’s very, very good in qualifying an evolution of the car and the driver. That is, it was understood that there are no points on Saturday and that all the points come on Sunday. Therefore, I believe it is true that we have shifted our attention to improving the racing car.”
“Tire management is, of course, an ever-present topic. But, you know, we’ve seen Charles have some excellent races. I remember the ’22 race in Austria, where Max had tire degradation problems and Charles won with a It’s not that Charles hasn’t been good on tires historically. I think it’s us, as a combination, that we haven’t focused on tires very well our greater attention to making the car work well in the race and taking care of the tyres, and of Charles who has learned from previous years and has refined his skills in tire management, but also in race management.”
“And I think he responded well to a very strong teammate, I mean, we talked for a long time about Carlos’ qualities. And the fact is that Carlos probably doesn’t have the pace that Charles can show in qualifying. But, you know, if you look in Singapore last year and at that race, you know, Charles was really disappointed. It was a race in which Charles, one would have said, would go as favorite to win in Singapore, often, often he goes into it with a lot of confidence. , and, of course, the fact that Carlos then stole that race from under his nose really hurt.”
“And I think that kind of thing made him focus on the need to get the job done on Sunday. And, I don’t want to say he never thought about it, but it means that the focus changes a little bit if you take your mind off it.” that we just need to get the best qualifying car possible and do a qualifying lap, and then everything will happen on Sunday. So I think you’re seeing a better representation of Charles and us as a driver, as a car and as a team,” he concluded Clear.
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