Ferrari’s star has been a master of qualifying, but he and the team have not been so adept at converting this to race performances.There is confidence that this can change in 2024
JAKE BOXALL-LEGGE
Ferrari
Five wins in five years is hardly the return Charles Leclerc hoped for when he embarked upon his journey with Ferrari in Formula 1. His collection of 23 pole positions has translated into victories only four times, perfectly symbolic of his tenure at the Prancing Horse.
Although he bears the responsibility for a few of those failures to convert, most have not been Leclerc’s fault. Ferrari has been plagued by a handful of false dawns, the team’s sloppy strategy calls and untimely unreliability issues serving to restrict Leclerc’s appearances on the top step of the podium.
In a 2019 season where Ferrari had flattered in testing only to deceive in the opening rounds, Leclerc had a first win denied in Bahrain by a control system glitch in the final 10 laps. His defeat to Max Verstappen in Austria that year perhaps demonstrated naivety in wheel-to-wheel combat, and it took until Belgium where he was able to take victory. His 2020 was immediately nixed when Ferrari’s powertrains were seemingly neutered by an FIA technical directive on oil burning and, although 2021 wasn’t much more competitive, he had a chance to win in Monaco after securing pole. At least, until he binned the car on his following flyer and ended up not starting the race due to gearbox damage.
Ferrari was not winless in 2023, thanks to Carlos Sainz’s tactical mastery and Red Bull’s subdued performance in Singapore. Leclerc may feel that it should have been he who prevailed in the south-east Asian city state, but dutifully played rear gunner in the opening stages to ward off a threat from Mercedes’ George Russell. So Leclerc’s most recent win remains the 2022 Austrian Grand Prix, during a phase of the season when he appeared to be a legitimate title contender, but his fortunes waned as Red Bull’s star rose. It was another false dawn, and Leclerc had to endure it.
Crashes and hubristic strategy calls may have cost victories, but the main problem to constrain Leclerc during grands prix has lain in Ferrari’s inferior tyre management capabilities. The 2017 F2 champion chalked up five poles over the course of 2023, but none lasted long into the races; Ferrari simply could not match Red Bull on ra
