Charles Leclerc has endured a “disappointing” 2023 Formula 1 campaign but hopes Ferrari can develop a car capable of mounting a title battle against Red Bull next season.
Ferrari entered the season bidding to challenge for both championships, but no team has been capable of threatening the now imperious Max Verstappen and Red Bull RB19 partnership.
Having collected seven pole positions this season, Ferrari has lacked the pace come Sunday to derail a flawless season for Red Bull, with the exception of Carlos Sainz’s victory in Singapore – which remains the only non-Red Bull win of the year.
Leclerc has experienced a tumultuous season after struggling to get to grips with an inconsistent and unreliable SF-23 and currently finds himself seventh in the Drivers’ Championship heading into the season finale in Abu Dhabi.
“To be honest it’s been a disappointing season,” the Monegasque driver rued. “After last year, we expected to come into this season and try and fight for the championship.
“After the first race, we straight away understood how difficult it would be compared to the Red Bull which had a huge step forward, especially in race pace.
“We didn’t do the same step, so from that moment onwards it was a bit of a disappointment. On the other hand, this season, if you forget about last season, I think we have progressed quite a lot this season which is positive and makes me confident for the future.
“But there’s a big gap to fill to get back [with] the Red Bulls so we will work out over the winter break and hopefully come back next year with a car that is capable of outperforming them.”
(L to R): Charles Leclerc (MON) Ferrari with Frederic Vasseur (FRA) Ferrari Team Principal. 14.09.2023. Formula 1 World Championship, Rd 16, Singapore Grand Prix, Marina Bay Street Circuit, Singapore, Preparation Day. – www.xpbimages.com, EMail: requests@xpbimages.com © Copyright: Moy / XPB Images
While Red Bull wrapped up the Constructors’ Championship back in September at Suzuka, only four points separate Ferrari and Mercedes in the battle for second.
Since the summer break, the Italian marque has gradually reeled in a near sixty-point deficit to the Silver Arrows, but even with momentum favouring the trailing Ferrari, Leclerc expects asserting second place in the standings to be a challenge.
“It’s going to be tight. We have good momentum coming into this race, the last few races have been positive for us however Mercedes is generally pretty good in Abu Dhabi,” he said.
“We will have to put everything together in order to fight them and beat them in the Constructrors’ Championship.
“Everybody is super motivated to beat Mercedes in the Constructors’ Championship. Momentum is good, but the big work remains to be done on track and we’ll make sure that we do everything perfect this weekend in order to beat them.”
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