3 reasons why Charles Leclerc might not win the 2022 F1 championship

Charles Leclerc has certainly started off the 2022 F1 season as a fan favorite with two phenomenal consecutive weekends in Bahrain and Saudi Arabia. He took a race win in the season opener and just missed out on one at the Jeddah Corniche Circuit against the reigning world champion Max Verstappen.

For several years, teams and fans have pegged Leclerc to be of championship-winning material, given the right car. Ferrari's long-term commitment to the driver certainly demonstrated their faith in the 24-year-old.

While Ferrari do seem to be back in form this year, the 2022 F1 season has just begun. There is no question when it comes to Charles Leclerc's talent and pure pace that he holds the potential to win the F1 season. However, when it comes to consistency, the Ferrari driver still does have some rough edges in his game.

Here are 3 reasons why Charles Leclerc might not win the 2022 F1 championship

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#3 Challenege from the Red Bull powertrains

Red Bull got off to a poor start to the 2022 F1 season with a double DNF due to reliability issues at the Bahrain Grand Prix. However, the Milton Keynes-based team came fighting right back in the next race at the Jeddah Corniche Circuit.

Sergio Perez took the first pole of his career while Max Verstappen earned his first race win of the season after an intense battle with Leclerc upfront. The reigning world champion managed to become the only non-Mercedes driver to beat Lewis Hamilton in the Turbo-Hybrid era, a testament to the Dutchman's racecraft.

Keeping his sheer talent aside, looking back at the 2010 season, a certain pattern may be observed that would not necessarily help the prospects for Charles Leclerc this season.

Like the 2022 F1 opener, 2010's first race in Bahrain ended with a Ferrari 1-2 for Alonso, Massa and Lewis Hamilton in third, while Red Bull experienced issues in the form of a spark plug failure, another reliability issue. The season was eventually won by Sebastian Vettel, who was driving for Red Bull at the time.

#2 The team-mate threat

Carlos Sainz had a phenomenal season in 2021, displaying impressive consistency with minimal mistakes on Sundays. He played the perfect team-mate by picking up the slack every single time something went wrong for Charles Leclerc.

He finished the season ahead of Leclerc and both McLarens and played a significant role in Ferrari's third-place finish in the constructors' standings. While he was outqualified by the 24-year-old in 2021, Sainz certainly had the upperhand with his overall package as a Sunday driver.

Leclerc is undoubtedly unstoppable over one lap on a Saturday but when it comes to the main race, the Spaniard is simply relentless - as has been evidenced in the last three years.

With this in mind, it can be assumed that just as in the 2021 season, Ferrari will have two drivers who are very close in points. While Leclerc may eventually tip in the right direction, Sainz is unlikely to give up without a challenge.

Ferrari insist that they do not have a main driver as of yet, so a close battle between the two drivers of the top team could prove to be a negative factor for the Prancing Horse in their title challenge this season.

#1 The curse of the season-opener

In 2016, Nico Rosberg started off the season with a win in the season opener in Australia and went on to take the world championship title at the end of the year. However, this was the last time a driver who had won the first F1 race had gone on to win the championship title.

Over the last five seasons, Sebastian Vettel has won two season openers in Australia with Ferrari, Valtteri Bottas took the next two wins in Australia and Bahrain, while Lewis Hamilton won the 2021 season opener in Bahrain. None of them managed to win the title in those seasons.

Charles Leclerc won the 2022 F1 Bahrain Grand Prix season-opener and so one could assume that the curse might have now been bestowed upon him.