Ferrari ‘s 2022 season has been characterized by strong qualifying pace followed by disappointing Sundays, whether due to lack of race pace, reliability issues or strategy errors.
The Monegasque driver says he wants to use the remaining four Grands Prix this season to improve the team for next year and is little worried about the battle with Sergio Pérez for second place in the championship. The Mexican currently occupies that position by a single point advantage.
“It’s always better to finish second than third,” said Charles Leclerc. “But my main goal isn’t really that, it’s mostly trying to use these last four races so that we can be fighting for the world championship next year.”
“We will try to use these last four races to be a better team next year.”
Asked what Ferrari most needs to improve on, he replied: “I think honestly it’s the Sunday run as a whole. It’s about a lot of things. It’s tire management, as we’ve seen in the last career, which is still a weak point”.
“The communication, the strategy, the reliability, just being a stronger team when it comes to Sunday and really ending the weekend in the best possible way. Because on Saturday we have often been very strong, but on Sunday sometimes things they fall apart.”
As for the way Ferrari has reacted to setbacks in 2022, he added: “I think we always go through the same process. When there is a mistake or something goes wrong, you always try to analyze where it came from.
“And then once you understand where it’s coming from, you try to look forward. That’s what we’ve done this year, and that’s what we’re going to continue to do.”
Leclerc says that he has already seen some improvements in recent weekends.
“Well, I think in terms of communication strategy etc, we’ve been working on it for a couple of races,” he revealed. “And I’ve already seen positive signs. So that’s good.”
“And then there is the tire management, as we saw in the last race. That is a bit more difficult, we have to identify all the causes. But it is a continuous work that we are doing, and in which we are improving.
“And I think what we’ve seen this year is that in some races we’ve been very good at managing the tyres, the only thing missing is being good in very specific situations.”
“Like in Japan, it was obviously colder on Sunday, and it was also rainy. And when we’re in a bit of an unexpected situation, that’s where we’re probably not as good as maybe Red Bull is. So we have to work on that.” .
Leclerc said he was happy the team had continued to put new parts on the car, having run on an updated floor at Suzuka: “Yes, they are small things. I don’t think there are any missing. But we are coming to the end of the season, where obviously the focus is now more on next year.”
“I think we also try to use these little updates to try to understand things before we completely finalize the design of next year’s car.
Do you want to read our news before anyone else and for free? Follow us here on our Telegram channel and you won’t miss a thing. All the information, at your fingertips!
