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Charles Leclerc claims losing his home race in Monaco was his most painful moment of the 2022 season. The Monegasque was leading the race in Monte Carlo before Ferrari botched his pit-stop strategy, causing him to finish off the podium.
Charles Leclerc led the soaking race in Monaco and looked en route to breaking his 'home race curse'. Ferrari, however, decided to pit him for intermediate tires and put him on slicks three laps later, causing him to drop from the podium places. The driver was heard venting his frustration on the team radio, claiming that the team cannot make such mistakes if they want to beat Red Bull by the end of the year.
Leclerc made a few more mistakes in the later races, most notably in France, where the driver crashed out of the lead due to an unforced error. When asked which of his few mistakes was the most painful one for him in 2022, however, Leclerc told L'Equipe:
“It was really not easy but Monaco, for me, will remain the most painful moment. Another home Grand Prix that didn’t go well. Unfortunately, something always happens to me in Monaco and this year was no exception. Especially because we had managed to do the hardest part well, the start in the rain, but by making the wrong choices, we unfortunately lost the victory.”
Charles Leclerc pipped Sergio Perez to P2 in drivers' championship
Ferrari's Charles Leclerc believes he put in 110% effort to edge out Red Bull's Sergio Perez in the fight for P2 in the World Drivers' Championship standings this season. The Monegasque came into the final race weekend of the year tied on points with Perez and started in P3 at the Yas Marina Circuit, one place behind the Mexican.
Leclerc was able to deploy a one-stop strategy to climb to P2 in the classification and hold onto that position, despite Perez's best efforts to catch him in a nail-biting race. The battle came down to the last lap of the race, but Leclerc did just enough to keep Perez at bay and take P2 in the standings by a margin of three points.
Charles Leclerc told Jenson Button in parc fermé after the race in Abu Dhabi:
"I was 110% from the first lap to the last lap. Honestly, we had the perfect race for us. There was not much more today. I knew that the only possibility for us to beat Checo [Sergio Perez] was with a different strategy and playing with tyre management, which we did really well today and we managed to make the one-stop work. So, really really happy."
The Monegasque driver, however, will surely be disappointed with the way the 2022 season panned out as he was pipped to be the clear championship favorite at the start of the year. The driver will try and minimize mistakes in 2023, trying to dethrone Max Verstappen and Red Bull.
