Twelve months ago Charles Leclerc left the Australian Grand Prix having picked up his second pole position, win and fastest lap of the season. He headed the drivers’ championship and Ferrari topped the constructors’ table.
Leclerc knew he had a good shot at the 2022 title and was brimming with confidence. But his season soon came apart at the seams. Leclerc was left frustrated time and time again as bad luck, questionable strategy calls and reliability problems saw his early championship advantage evaporate before his eyes.
The driver continued to back the team but by the Belgian Grand Prix in August, Leclerc had accepted his title hopes were over. Max Verstappen duly clinched the crown in Japan.
Red Bull looked unstoppable towards the back end of the season, and Ferrari needed to come back stronger for 2023. But a year on from his Melbourne high, Leclerc’s start to the new season could hardly be more of a disappointment.
“It’s definitely the worst start to a season ever,” Leclerc lamented, cutting a lonely figure as he addressed the media after the Australian Grand Prix. His race lasted precisely three corners.
“At turn three, I wasn’t planning an overtake at first on Lance Stroll,” explained Leclerc. “Then I saw he had to brake very early because Fernando Alonso was braking early.
“I released the brakes and put myself alongside Lance, and then Fernando had to brake even more. Lance found himself between me and Fernando, and he couldn’t turn in and we had contact. I’m not pointing the finger at Lance because I think he just had no choice. It’s just extremely frustrating.”
It was his second retirement in three rounds. At the season-opener he was heard shouting “no power” on his radio in Bahrain as his Ferrari ground to a halt. The team had identified a fault on Sunday morning in Bahrain with the control electronics and changed them, but this failed to prevent a stoppage which ruined his first race and compromised the next one.
Ferrari had no option but to change the components for a third time triggering a 10-place grid penalty in Jeddah. From his compromised starting position he recovered seventh place for his only points of the season so far.
Three races in, Leclerc lies tenth in the standings, Ferrari fourth behind Mercedes in the constructors – a stark difference to this time last season.
At 25, the same age as Verstappen, Leclerc…
Click Here to Read the Full Original Article at RaceFans…