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Charles Leclerc has had a very mixed start to the season in 2023, with a rewarding podium but equally harsh DNFs. All of that combined with the mid-performance of the Ferrari car, he has certainly experienced a lot.
This topic was discussed by Scott Mitchell-Malm on The Race F1 podcast, as he drew a contrast of Leclerc's performance between Azerbaijan, where he scored his first and only podium of the season, and Miami, where he didn't even finish in the top five.
He compared Leclerc's issues with driving the SF-23 to Carlos Sainz's, his teammate, and mentioned how the Monegasque driver lost out in the first US GP of the season because of that:
"Whereas for Leclerc who was able to live with the looseness of the car, but that unpredictability he's dragged at that time out of it, he can live with it. He can take it to its peak in a way that Sainz can't. And he did that in Azerbaijan. But that style and the downsides of the car, the risks that come with it paid off in Baku, but then they punished him in Miami."
Charles Leclerc was able to bring in pole position for the Azerbaijan Grand Prix, ultimately losing out to the two raging Red Bulls during the race. He defended well enough to finish P3 and score his first podium. Looking strong the next week in Miami, he was doing well until he crashed out during the qualifying session and started the race on P7.
Although Max Verstappen started the race on P9, he managed to win, but the pace of Leclerc's car couldn't help him climb a single place up while crossing the checkered flag.
Mitchell believes that Charles Leclerc lost confidence in Miami
All in all, the Miami Grand Prix weekend wasn't the best for the Ferrari driver. This is because it wasn't just the qualifying session where he crashed out, it happened during Free Practice 2 as well, and on the exact same turn; 6 and 7.
Unfortunately, Charles Leclerc found it hard to make places up during the race. According to the podcast host, it was because he had 'lost confidence,' following all the things that he'd faced during the weekend:
"[He] was actually quite muted in the race because he was basically driving within himself because he'd lost that confidence and didn't really understand how hard to push in lap to lap, corner to corner."
Charles Leclerc is currently down to seventh in the standings with just 34 points. This is a huge downfall as he was competing for the championship at this stage and leading it well enough last season. The Italian team needs to bring in plenty of upgrades to perform well and it has been said that they are planning to do so.
