Is Lecler too soft to fight for the title? Ferrari leader criticised again
Ferrari leader Charles Leclair’s losses to Max Verstappen have become the subject of much discussion among the experts. In the last four races to date Leclair has already lost three times to Verstappen. The Monaco-born man has been heavily criticized by a number of respected experts for surrendering his position almost without a fight.
Team Ferrari at the beginning of the season 2022 year were considered to be unquestionable favorites, but now experts are increasingly talk that the failure of Leclair can change the balance of power. It has been pointed out that Monegasque has the potential to be a very strong contender for the reigning world champion. But serious mistakes are preventing Leclair from firmly asserting his claim to the championship.
During the race in Miami Leclair with a very good start position still lost the race, with Verstappen in the lead from lap 9 onwards.
According to the auto expert, the ex-pilot of Formula 1 Vitaly Petrov, Leclair had every opportunity to close the position and not allow the opponent to pass in the centre. All the more so as the Ferrari leader’s car allowed him quite well to claim the lead.
Another expert and also an ex-pilot of Formula 1 Jolyon Palmer drew attention to the error of Leclair made in the 17th turn. According to the expert, the leader of the Ferrari has allowed his rival to hold “the easiest overtaking in the fight for leadership”. Palmer said he had expected a “great battle” but instead saw a total lack of resistance from Leclair. Experts point out that Leclair’s less titled teammate, Perez, had a much better ride at the Miami race and beat Sainz to third place in the race in a very tight battle.
Failure has haunted Leclair in the last three Grand Prix in a row. The biggest setback of all was at Imola, which saw Leclair lose seven points to a very poor performance and drop three places in the standings. He fared slightly better in Melbourne but was unable to consolidate his success at the Emilia-Romagna Grand Prix.
As for Verstappen, he has run his races so far without fatal mistakes but, at the same time, he has not been consistently successful. His poor qualifying performance at Jeddah is testament to that. Far from the best for Verstappen were and race in Miami, but here the athlete was unlucky: he dropped out of the fight due to a breakdown of the machine.
But all this does not make the confrontation Lecler-Ferstappen less principled. For each of the riders won points, we can say, vitally important.
Experts believe that Charles Leclair in order to seriously fight for the championship, to make serious adjustments in the style of driving, making it more aggressive. All the more so as Monegasque has a very good chance of winning the overall title, where he has the advantage so far after successful races in Bahrain and Jeddah. But the victorious march of Max Verstappen can seriously change the status quo. So it’s safe to say that all the upcoming races in the 2022 season will be very tight.
