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Despite having innumerable hurdles to cross this season, Charles Leclerc claims that the first half of 2022 has been his strongest in F1 so far, not only in terms of championship points but also in the way he has operated within the team.
The Monegasque started off the season at an absolute high, taking his first win at the season opener in Bahrain. Since then, however, it has been quite a bumpy road for Ferrari, to say the least.
As reported by the BBC, Charles Leclerc claims that his race preparation this season has been superior than ever before. He said:
“I really feel like this first part of the season has been my strongest in F1 and I think the way I have worked, and the way we have worked as a team - in terms of finding the right set-up, in terms of building up to the qualifying lap in Q3, or just preparing the race - has been the best I have ever done in F1.”
He also confirmed that while he hopes to learn from previous mistakes and improve, he will not be changing his approach very much. Leclerc added:
“So there is no need for me to change that approach. Again, try and grow from the mistakes of the first half, but try and perform as well as the first half because the performance I’ve given, I’m extremely happy about. And this I want to keep. So there won’t be any significant change. We just need to try and work as a team to put a weekend together for the nine remaining races and see where we end up.”
Charles Leclerc needs to be "patient", says former Ferrari driver
Race after race, Charles Leclerc has had one thing or the other go absolutely wrong for him. Whether it is a blunder made by Ferrari's strategy call, an avoidable mistake, or just plain bad luck, the 22-year-old has not had an easy first half to the 2022 season. Former Ferrari driver Felipe Massa has advised the young driver to remain patient and focused.
On Sky F1’s Any Driven Monday, Massa discussed Charles Leclerc's situation and said:
“Well, definitely, he’s not happy at all. But you need to be patient because if you start a fight now, it will not help the team. Charles, we cannot forget, in the last race, he made a mistake that just gave away a very good possibility to win the race and score the right amount of points.”
“So you need to be patient. So, even if you’re not happy with the decisions, the mistakes that are happening, you need to fight in the right way, professionally. Not showing it outside because, if you start to show outside, it is not helping both sides, even if Ferrari made more mistakes this year. A fight outside will not help them.”
Charles Leclerc led the 2022 championship standings for the first five races of the season before losing the lead to reigning world champion Max Verstappen. With three DNFs for the Ferrari driver so far, a whopping 80 points separates the top two drivers.
