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Charles Leclerc is optimistic about his chances of beating Max Verstappen to the 2022 F1 title, despite his recent setbacks. With 10 more races to go in the season and more than 250 points up for grabs, Leclerc believes that he can still clinch his maiden title.
To do so, the Ferrari driver has to win the 10 remaining races and take the extra points for the fastest laps in at least half those races. Leclerc is aware of the challenge ahead of him but still believes that it is an achievable goal. Speaking to Autosport ahead of the 2022 F1 Hungarian GP, he said:
“I think if we win all the races and he [Verstappen] finishes second all the time, we can still win! So, I’m relying on myself doing that, even though it’s quite a challenging task. Let’s see how it goes. Obviously, it’s a very, very optimistic goal, but I don’t want to look into it any more negatively.”
Charles Leclerc started the 2022 F1 season as the clear favorite for the title and promptly built himself a formidable lead, even as Red Bull and Max Verstappen were struggling with reliability issues.
In the last few races, however, the Monegasque’s fortunes have changed dramatically due to various factors. Consequently, he currently trails Verstappen in the drivers' standings by a whopping 63 points.
Some of those factors, such as unreliability and poor strategic decisions from the Ferrari pit wall, were out of his hands. He too, however, has made several costly mistakes that have equally contributed to his situation.
Yet, Leclerc said that he doesn’t feel any additional pressure on his shoulders to deliver, especially since he might lose out on a chance to bring home Ferrari’s first world title in nearly 15 years. He added, saying:
“Obviously, the goal remains to be world champion, and it still remains the same goal for me, even though that now it’s going to be more difficult. But it doesn’t add pressure that it’s been so many years that we haven’t won the drivers’ championship.”
Charles Leclerc hopes for better reliability for rest of 2022 F1 season as he targets championship comeback
Charles Leclerc is hoping for better reliability for the rest of the 2022 F1 season as he aims to mount a comeback against Max Verstappen for the title.
The Ferrari driver has retired thrice while leading a race in 2022 — twice due to unreliability — and cannot afford to have any more DNFs if he wants to keep his championship hopes alive. Speaking ahead of the 2022 F1 Hungarian GP, Leclerc said:
“I think that the pace now is there to win the championship, we just need to put everything together. Reliability has been a problem this year, and we’ve lost loads of points, and we’ll try to grow from that. Hopefully if we don’t have this for the rest of the year, things are still possible. I still remain positive for the rest of the year.”
Unless Ferrari find fixes to their reliability issues soon, it could spell disaster for Charles Leclerc’s championship hopes.
