In motorsport, the old cliché that ‘second place is the first loser’ has become a lazy means of dismissing what an achievement a second place finish can be – especially in the unequal world of Formula 1.
But when Charles Leclerc travelled to Bologna to collect his second place trophy at the FIA Gala – a token of his highest ever finish in the series – his downbeat demeanour betrayed just how badly Leclerc and his Ferrari team were beaten by Max Verstappen and Red Bull in 2022.
It started so promisingly. Ferrari arrived in Bahrain in with a genuine chance of fighting for the win and Leclerc promptly made the most of it, pipping Verstappen to the first pole position of the season. In the race, he faced down the new world champion fearlessly, fighting side-by-side with the Red Bull in a battle that was as hard as it was fair. Before Verstappen’s retirement in the closing laps, Leclerc had more than earned the first victory of the season, and ended Ferrari’s win drought and establish them as the early title favourites.
Another intense duel with Verstappen followed a week later in Jeddah, where Leclerc ultimately had to settle for second. But in Melbourne, he dominated. He stormed to pole by almost three tenths of a second and controlled the entire race, leading every lap to secure his second win in three races. Suddenly, Leclerc sat atop the drivers’ championship with almost double the points haul of any other driver and almost two full race wins’ worth over Verstappen.
But despite such a commanding early position, Leclerc proved he was not infallible the next round in Imola. After making Verstappen work hard to win in the sprint race, he dropped two places at the start of the grand prix, running behind Sergio Perez in third. Then, while trying to chase down the second Red Bull, he lost control at the Variante Alta and skidded into the barriers. Fortunately, he could continue, but his front wing was in need of repair. He eventually recovered to sixth, dropping a decent amount of points to Verstappen, who leapt up into second place in the championship.
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Pole in Miami was the perfect way for Leclerc to regain confidence. But in the race Verstappen was simply too strong to resist and he and Ferrari had to settle for second. In Spain, Leclerc looked unstoppable. He was fastest in every session and stormed to his fourth pole in six rounds –…
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