Charles Leclerc terms the start to F1 2023 as the worst he has ever had, as he is looking at small targets for his immediate run.
For Ferrari’s Leclerc, the F1 2023 season has been a very challenging so far. Last year saw him take back to back wins at Bahrain and Australia. This season has so far been the flip side of this with a paltry seventh place at Jeddah, while the other two has ended in a retirement.
Last weekend saw another nightmare scenario for the Monagasque. A poor qualifying followed by a spin at Turn 3 on the opening lap following a touch with Lance Stroll in what could be deemed a “racing incident”. Leclerc didn’t put any blame on him as expected but he admits it has been the worst start to his campaign.
“I’m not pointing the finger at Lance because I think he had no choice once Fernando slowed down the car the second time, and for me it was just impossible to see whether Lance was staying behind Fernando or if he was just in between… I obviously didn’t think he was there,” said Leclerc to media.
“Turn 1, I took it easy; Turn 3, I wasn’t really planning an overtake at first on Lance. Then I saw that he had to brake very early because of Fernando in front that was braking early. So, I released the brakes and put myself alongside Lance, and then Fernando had to brake even more – so then Lance found himself between me and Fernando – and he couldn’t turn in, and we had contact”.
“It is just extremely frustrating; I mean, it’s the worst start to the season ever, really… it is really frustrating. I think instead of thinking long term targets, I think just finishing a race without any penalties or issues or whatsoever is a priority. Then take the momentum and see what’s possible,” summed up Leclerc.
The other part of that Turn 3 conundrum saw Stroll joking a bit to start while being a bit relieved that there was no major damage. As it was, Leclerc did not apportion blame in any way to the Canadian, who found that amusing.
“Oh that was nice of him, I’ll buy him a beer,” joked Stroll. “No, I mean it was honestly a racing incident I think. It gets so narrow, this track is narrow, going into Turn 3, I was braking in the middle of him and Fernando, I didn’t move and then kind of got sandwiched and then we made contact”.
“It was unfortunate for him and lucky for me that I didn’t pick up damage or anything. Maybe something, but it felt okay.” In what turned out to be an eventful Grand Prix, Stroll went on to pick up fourth place behind team mate Fernando Alonso and consolidate second place in the Constructors race.
Leclerc, meanwhile, has to go back to the drawing board and pick himself up for Baku at the end of the month sooner rather than later as it could turn out to be long season for him and the team.
Here’s how Charles Leclerc going off at the start: https://www.formula1.com/en/latest/video.2023-australian-grand-prix-russell-and-hamilton-jump-pole-sitter-verstappen-as-leclerc-spins-out-on-the-race-start.1762039982330957997.html
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