"Driver Performances can't be seen in isolation": Charles Leclerc's poor start to the season explained 

Charles Leclerc's poor start to the 2023 season has been explained by F1 pundit Mark Hughes. The Briton believes the Monegasque is not in a good place in 2023, claiming the Ferrari driver is not performing at his best so far this year.

The Scuderia are seeing a dramatic fall from grace in 2023 after having been championship hopefuls last year. Leclerc has suffered two DNFs in the first three races of the year, with the 25-year-old struggling to compete with the frontrunners, Red Bull and Max Verstappen.

However, Hughes believes that driver performances in the modern era cannot be looked at in isolation and are dependent on the nature of one's car and its deficit to the top teams.

Speaking about Charles Leclerc's performance on the Race F1 podcast, Mark Hughes said:

"Leclerc's not performing at his best either. He certainly won't be looking back on his Australia weekend with much satisfaction but all these things aren't in isolation."

He continued:

"Driver performances can't be seen in isolation. They are all circumstantial now - amplified by car performance and car traits and what the deficit is and how hard you have to push to try and overcome that deficit."

---

Charles Leclerc not dealing with a motivation issue claims Ferrari boss

Ferrari team principal Fred Vasseur believes Charles Leclerc is not experiencing a lack of motivation despite a woeful start to his 2023 campaign. The Scuderia driver has suffered two DNFs in the first three opening races, putting him on the back foot against his rivals.

After finishing second in the drivers' standings last year, expectations for Leclerc were high heading into the 2023 season. However, it hasn't gone according to plan for the driver and the team.

Leclerc was en route to a P3 finish in Bahrain before a PU failure saw him retire from the race. The following race in Saudi Arabia was compromised by a grid penalty due to a change in PU components. Most recently in Australia, his race ended on the very first lap due to a collision.

Speaking about his driver's motivation going forward, Vasseur said of Charles Leclerc:

"I have absolutely no doubts about the integrity of Charles's motives. Surely, the start of the season wasn't what we wanted and what he wanted to have, there was the retirement in Bahrain, the penalty in Jeddah and the retirement in Melbourne, which was certainly not in the plans, but the motivation is intact."

However, the silver lining for Charles Leclerc is that his 2022 rival Max Verstappen suffered a similar fate in the opening three races but went on to win the championship with ease. It will be interesting to watch the Monegasque's campaign develop in the years to come.