Frustrated Charles Leclerc focusing on short-term goals after difficult start to the F1 season
Charles Leclerc of Ferrari 5 Mar 2023
Ferrari driver Charles Leclerc says he is focused on simply finishing races after the team has struggled to make any sort of impact on the Formula 1 championship so far.
The Scuderia have just 25 points from the first three races of the season and Leclerc has scored only six of those with teammate Carlos Sainz responsible for the other 20.
It has been a difficult start for Leclerc to say the least but it hasn't been all his own fault with driver error mixed in with some mechanical issues keeping him out of the battle for points too often.
He crashed out in the opening lap of the Australian Grand Prix and says he is now focusing on more simple objectives as he tries to rebuild his season.
"I think instead of thinking long term targets, I think just finishing a race without any penalties or issues or whatsoever is a priority," said Leclerc. "Then take the momentum and see what's possible."
To be fair to Leclerc and Ferrari, his DNF in Australia was caused by Lance Stroll crashing into him but his retirement in Bahrain was due to a "completely unexpected" problem, although it remains uncertain how many times a Formula 1 car has been forced to retire with a "completely expected" problem.
Then in Saudi Arabia, he was forced to take a 10-place grid penalty after reaching the limit on power unit components - in the second race of the season.
"I wouldn't go as far as Carlos. But still it's clear that we need to improve the car," Leclerc explained.
"I will wait and see because I think could be very interesting. What we see during this race, having changed quite a bit of things in terms of setup, I think it's been beneficial for our race pace."
