"He has the right package"- Charles Leclerc will be an F1 world champion one day, feels Max Verstappen's manager

Max Verstappen's manager Raymond Vermeulen sees Charles Leclerc as a future world champion. Vermeulen is of the opinion that Leclerc is a full package and could have won if not for his car's reliability issues.

The Dutch manager, while talking on the F1 Nation podcast, praised Charles Leclerc's race craft and claimed:

"A lot of the mistakes that happened to both Ferrari drivers was because they seem to have quite a loose rear, that's a little bit unpredictable. And then obviously, if you're already a little bit on the backfoot, you push that just extra couple of percent more, and you're driving closer at the limit, then it's obviously easy to make a mistake."

Vermeulen continued:

"It's easy to finger point, but I think if he has the right package, Charles is definitely also a future Formula 1 World Champion, if he has the car that he requires to do [so.]"

Vermeulen was clear that Charles Leclerc lacked a reliable car for most part of the year, as he pointed out:

"I also think he has the race craft, but if you have bigger tyre degradation during the race, there's not much that you can do as a driver. You can be like Sergio Perez who is one of the best in saving rear tyres, but I think they are all pretty good in that sense."

He continued:

"Ultimately, you need a car that performs over one and a half hours, and Charles didn't have this for most of the races."

The Monégasque managed the majority of the poles this year, only for Ferrari to throw away his lead in the race. The driver's season was plagued by consistent strategic errors, mechanical issues, and even a lack of pace by the end that ultimately cost him the title.

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Former F1 champion criticizes Charles Leclerc's mistakes in 2022

Former world champion Jacques Villeneuve was critical of Leclerc's costly mistakes at some Grand Prixs. Villeneuve specifically pointed out the French GP crash as he believes that moment to be pivotal to the title shift.

In his post-race column on Formule1.nl, Villeneuve pointed out Charles Leclerc's crash that brought Verstappen back into the game:

"He also started to make mistakes, and the question will always be, would that have happened without the blunders of the team? His mistake when he took the lead in Paul Ricard was ultimately crucial for the championship."

Charles Leclerc currently stands P3 in the World Drivers' Championship table despite starting the season with a 40 point lead earlier in the year. Ferrari simply lacked the teamwork, and that saw them crumbling under pressure way too often.