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Charles Leclerc's 2023 F1 season has started on the worst possible note. The Ferrari driver has two DNFs in the first three races in what has been his worst start to a season since 2018. Not much has been going right for him ever since racing began this season.
He was en route to securing a P3 finish in Bahrain but a PU failure caused a DNF. His second race was compromised by a grid penalty due to PU components change while his third race ended on the very first lap due to a collision.
There's been far too much heartbreak for the young driver and the season has only started. Add to that the disastrous 2022 F1 season where far too many issues derailed his championship campaign, one can't be faulted for assuming that Leclerc is not in the best frame of mind right now.
The Monegasque driver knows he can be a world champion but when it comes to getting support from the team or the people around him, it's not really there. Being part of Ferrari is great and it's a matter of honor, however, it's a team that has not won a title since 2008.
The team has produced one major disappointing season after another and when it comes to making progress, it's not there. When we have a situation like this for a driver like Leclerc, the best thing to do is take a step back and maybe think about the next move for his career.
In this feature, we will share the reasons why a move away from the famed Scuderia might be the best thing for Leclerc.
#1 Ferrari is a self-destructing juggernaut
To understand Ferrari, we should not only see what has happened since 2007. We need to look beyond that. We need to look at the Michael Schumacher era and then we have to look at the two decades before that as well. Since the 1980s, Ferrari has been a political mess. The team has been mired in power struggles and counterproductive agencies dragging it down.
Schumacher joined Ferrari in 1996 but even then, the team had not won anything for more than a decade. The German needed to wait another four to five years to convert the team into a championship-winning juggernaut. During that time, he toiled hard and brought the team back from a similar underperforming loop it finds itself in right now.
The sad thing about Ferrari is that they are their biggest enemy. After spending almost five years under its umbrella, it's about time Leclerc lost faith in the team and moved on to something different.
#2 There might be a few possibilities opening-up
In terms of opportunities and possibilities, F1 is changing and as a driver, almost everyone needs to take inspiration from Lewis Hamilton on how to time a career move. Hamilton had a keen eye and he could see potential in Mercedes when nobody else did.
As a result, he set up his career with a stunning move in 2012. Aston Martin and Fernando Alonso's rise to the front this season has shown that if you have a keen eye, you can identify a team that could rise to the front.
All Leclerc needs to do is keep an eye out. Could Alpine be that team? Could it be Sauber (soon to be Audi)? Or could it even be Mercedes if Hamilton bids adieu? There are some very interesting opportunities that could be opening up soon and these opportunities could prove to be a more viable option than Ferrari for Charles Leclerc.
#3 Charles Leclerc needs a change of scenery
Another very important reason why Leclerc needs a change is because of the mental fatigue he might be suffering from at Ferrari. The driver has been a part of the team since 2019. Since that fateful season, he has seen far too many things that could be counted as mentally taxing.
Be it the disastrous 2020 F1 season, where Ferrari's power unit verdict left the team on the back foot. Or the 2022 and 2023 F1 seasons, where some stunning drives from Leclerc continue to be limited by what appears to be a less-than-efficient outfit.
A team environment is meant to help the driver express himself and become a better version. Ferrari has played a contrary role for Leclerc, where the driver has been forced to overcompensate and hence loses out significantly.
