Ferrari cannot ignore mid-season F1 slump trigger

Drivers from Monaco make the most FerrariHe got off to a strong start to the 2022 campaign as he won two of the first three Grands Prix.

However, a resurgent Red Bull combined with a battle of reliability and strategy at Maranello and driver mistakes derailed Ferrari’s title hopes.

All of this pushed further into the spotlight on Ferrari announcement on Tuesday Its team boss Mattia Binotto will leave his post at the end of the year.

Looking back on the season that ended as a world champion in the runner-up Max VerstappenLeclerc said there was a lot of encouragement to take from the fact that Ferrari had made good progress on its car’s pace.

But he was mindful of the need to take a closer look at the problems Ferrari faced mid-season.

“Obviously, given how far we’ve come from last year, if I take a step back, it’s an amazing step forward,” he said before news of team principal Mattia Binotto’s departure broke.

“But obviously we can’t ignore a very frustrating mid-season.

“We went from leading the championship in a lot of points to being behind in a lot of points, and that was the frustrating part of the season.

“Overall, we need to take all the mistakes we made this year and try to improve for next year.

“I think in the last few races we’ve really made some progress in terms of strategy and how we’re making decisions these days.

“Unfortunately it was a little bit difficult to show that because the pace isn’t as good as it was at the beginning of the season.

Dejected Charles Leclerc, Ferrari F1-75 after falling from the lead at Le Beause

Photo credit: Carl Bingham / motorsport images

Leclerc believes there are three key areas Ferrari needs to focus on next year if they are to make the progress they need to be in contention for the championship. These were reliability, strategy and a better understanding of tire management.

“It’s hard to rank them, but at one point in the season they had reliability issues that paid off later with penalties and other things,” he said.

“I think we made too many mistakes in strategy, at some points in the season, and in terms of tire management, we weren’t consistent enough at 100%.

“Abu Dhabi was a good race, but sometimes it was a very bad race, and it seems that they have not yet figured out how to do good tire management all the time.

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“These are three key aspects that we are focusing on at the moment.

“Like I said before, I felt that the strategy was definitely moving forward in the last few races. is difficult.

“Obviously we made some mistakes, but I think we made better decisions for race day. Tires, strategy and obviously reliability that we will never forget are our focus. Three things.”

Charles Leclerc, Ferrari F1-75

Photo credit: Mark Sutton / motorsport images

Leclerc also clarified that he was not responsible for the personal mistakes that cost him wins this season.

“If anything, we could have pushed less like we did in France,” he said. “But in the first few years, I think there was always an area that I was particularly focused on because I knew it was a weak spot.

“Looking back, it’s been a long time since I’ve been in F1, but it’s important to know the details and be 100 percent as often as possible.

“Next year I’m going to focus here and try to be 100% myself. And whenever I’m at 100%, I’m pretty sure I’m really good.”

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