Charles leclerc

Charles Leclerc is essentially a faster driver than Carlos Sainz judged on raw speed, according to Franz Tost. The AlphaTauri team principal has only worked with one of the two Ferrari racers, that being Sainz, but appears adamant about his opinion. With the 66-year-old Austrian having been the Red Bull sister team’s boss since 2005 following the buyout of Minardi, he oversaw Sainz’s introduction to Formula 1 in 2015 alongside Max Verstappen in an all-rookie line-up. After nearly three seasons with Toro Rosso, the Spaniard joined Renault in October 2017, moved to McLaren for the 2019 campaign and then Ferrari as Leclerc’s team-mate in 2021. Despite finishing 5.5 points above Leclerc in last season’s Drivers’ standings, Sainz has largely had to play second fiddle to the Monegasque this term and currently trails him by 22 points and three race wins to one. In addition, Leclerc can feel as though he has missed out on dozens of points – potentially even another six … [Read more...] about Franz Tost feels Charles Leclerc is ‘two tenths faster’ than Carlos Sainz

IndyCar racer Marcus Ericsson, Charles Leclerc’s former team-mate, believes there’s a fundamental lack of trust between the two sides. Ericsson, who won the Indy 500 earlier this year, was team-mates with Charles Leclerc during the Monegasque’s debut season in Formula 1 in 2018 as the pair raced for Sauber. With Leclerc’s championship hopes in 2022 all but fully extinguished as his early season lead has turned into an 80-point deficit with nine races remaining, Ericsson put himself in the shoes of his former colleague and said he reckons Leclerc’s frustrations are adding to the mistakes being made by Ferrari. “I think he’s very frustrated. I think that he’s been fast this year, but it’s just been a lot of issues,” he said on Sky F1’s Any Driven Monday . Ericsson pointed to the example of Leclerc spinning off into retirement all by himself, while leading the French Grand Prix in July, as an example of those frustrations. “What happened in Paul Ricard, one of the … [Read more...] about Marcus Ericsson: There’s a lack of trust between Ferrari and the drivers

Sebastian Vettel has decided to hang up his helmet at the end of the season. It’s a decision which would likely have been received very differently had he taken it two years ago. Advert | Become a Supporter & go ad-free Back then,Vettel was on his way out of Ferrari after Charles Leclerc had wrecked the four-time champion’s claim to be the team’s top driver. Over his final season in red, Vettel was out-scored by his team mate by a ratio of nearly three to one. He fared better against Lance Stroll at Aston Martin last year and little has changed this year. However the team has taken another step backwards in competitiveness, so the pair are fighting over fewer points than before. Stroll has managed four points-scoring finishes, all for 10th place and a single point each time. Vettel has done slightly better, climbing as high as sixth in Baku (also the scene of his best finish last year), giving him a clear lead over his team mate in the championship. This is … [Read more...] about Aston Martin set to lose their top-performing driver for the third time in a row · RaceFans

Max Verstappen believes Mercedes might be able to help his bid for a second title, by stealing points away from Ferrari. The reigning World Champion’s lead in the 2022 title chase increased at the Hungarian Grand Prix, extending to 80 points between himself and the pursuing Charles Leclerc. This was after Leclerc fell down to sixth place due to how competitive Mercedes were in Budapest, with Lewis Hamilton and George Russell coming home in second and third place respectively. While Ferrari and Red Bull have had the top positions largely to themselves this year, Mercedes have been making steady progress with their W13 and appear, on occasion, to be able to get themselves in the mix near the front – a situation Verstappen is welcoming as Ferrari continue to make mistakes and lose out to Red Bull. Mercedes ‘finding more consistency’ as 2022 progresses “No, it’s good that they are competitive,” Verstappen told media after the Hungarian Grand Prix, when asked if he was … [Read more...] about Max Verstappen happy to see Mercedes ‘steal points’ from Ferrari

Former Ferrari racer Jean Alesi has called for patience with the Scuderia, saying Mattia Binotto needs time to build a winning team. Alesi has become the latest voice to call for calm regarding Ferrari, as the Scuderia’s troubled 2022 has seen the team crumble away from an early championship lead. Last week, former team boss Cesare Fiorio showed his support for Mattia Binotto as Ferrari have become race winners again after failing to win anything in 2020 and ’21. At the beginning of F1’s revolutionary new ruleset, Ferrari sprung back to the front of the sport as Charles Leclerc won two of the first three races. This netted him a 46-point lead over Max Verstappen, whose Red Bull retired from the same two races. However, through various mistakes and reliability issues, Leclerc now trails Verstappen by 80 points in the Drivers’ Championship. Ferrari, too, have fallen away in the Constructors’ Championship. Now trailing Red Bull by 97 points , they are just 30 points … [Read more...] about Jean Alesi: Ferrari ‘only missing little things’ and ‘need more time’