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Charles Leclerc acknowledged the rumors surrounding Ferrari team boss Mattia Binotto's alleged sacking, stating that these rumors and speculation will always be part of the sport. Several media outlets suggested that the Italian would soon be replaced by Alfa Romeo's Frederic Vasseur, although the team soon sent out an official statement that put the rumors to rest.
Speaking to select media, including Sportskeeda, at the drivers’ press conference ahead of the 2022 F1 Abu Dhabi Grand Prix, Leclerc said:
“Overall, there are always rumours around Formula 1, and especially around Ferrari. And this doesn’t change obviously, when we are getting to the end of the season. There’s always voices around us, but I think as a team, we really need to focus on our job and on track, try to extract all of the things that is happening around the team.”
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Speaking about the progress that the Scuderia has made and the credit the team deserves for taking big steps ahead this season, Charles Leclerc added:
“People tend to forget how big of a step we’ve done from last year to this year. There’s definitely another step that we need to do but I am sure that we’ll do it all together. And starting with this race, hopefully to finish on a high this season. But apart from that, there’s nothing more to say I don’t think we should give too much attention to that. Obviously this statement was made by the media. But again, they remain rumours. But also for the team itself, it’s not great to read these things.”
"It will be good to be second" - Charles Leclerc ahead of 2022 F1 Abu Dhabi GP
Charles Leclerc, who kicked off the 2022 F1 season on an absolute high with a strong prospect of securing his first-ever world championship title, heartbreakingly saw the possibility slip through his fingers over the year. He currently stands second in the standings and has accepted that for this year, second place could be considered a good enough result, given the progress the team has made over the past few seasons.
When asked if the team is expected to be competitive enough at the upcoming GP, the Monegasque said:
“It’s been a bit up and down in the last few races. Brazil has been good but unfortunately, because of our first lap incident, it was all about coming back to the front but the base was there so I hope it will be strong enough to fight for the top positions. Obviously we are fighting for the second place, in the Drivers’ Championship and also the second place in the Constructors’ Championship. And again, after going through very two very tough years in 2020 and 2021. it will be good to be back. Fighting at the top, even though our goal is to fight for the Championship in which eventually, after these two difficult years, it will be good to be second.”
Both Charles Leclerc and Sergio Perez will go into the upcoming season finale with 290 points to their names, fighting for second in the world drivers' championship.
