Contrary to Mattia Binotto's thoughts about Ferrari being only competitive, Charles Leclerc is certain that the Italian team has a chance to win the 2022 F1 season. But for that to happen, it has to be in control of the problems plaguing F1-75
The three straight setbacks in the 2022 Formula 1 season have been painful for Charles Leclerc, but the driver goes to Canada certain that nothing is lost yet for Ferrari. And contrary to what Mattia Binotto has stated, about focusing on being only competitive, the Monegasque declared that he still keeps the same mentality as when he was leader, confident that he can win the World Cup.
Just like in Barcelona, Leclerc was once again in the lead in Baku when he saw his Ferrari engine blow up. It was the third consecutive race that the Monegasque missed the chance to win and stem the advance of Max Verstappen, who now leads with 34 points ahead of Leclerc.
The Ferrari driver, meanwhile, saw Sergio Pérez overtake him in the standings to take second place. "It's the third disappointment in a row, so it's not easy," Leclerc admitted. "But overall, I am confident that I will be as mentally strong at the next race as I was five years ago when I was leading the championship. The motivation is still there," assured the #16.
Leclerc had a 46-point lead over Verstappen after the first three rounds of the calendar. At the beginning, however, it was Red Bull who suffered from the RB18's reliability, but the Taurinos managed not only to balance the game, but now the one who suffers from problems in F1-75 is Ferrari. The Monegasque stressed that the team needs to resolve these issues to get back to the top.
"I believe we can still win the championship, but we have to be in control of these things," he assessed. "After the last few races, we lost a lot of points and we need to analyze that. But we need to be in control of that. And we definitely need to look at reliability after these last three races. As a team, we have to move forward in that area," Leclerc finished.