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Charles Leclerc statistically had his best season in 2022. He won multiple races and secured a few positions. He also ended the season as the runner-up, behind Max Verstappen, rounding up a very impressive season. However, if we compare that to what was on the table in terms of potential, his 2022 season can be described as underwhelming.
Leclerc led the championship by a significant margin after the first three races of the season before disaster struck. First, it was reliability issues and then Ferrari's strategic howlers and finally a few driver errors. Add all of that, and you have a year where you feel Leclerc could have achieved a lot more than what he did.
Heading into the 2023 season, Leclerc will have a positive mindset. He will hope that the team has learned from the mistakes it made and put up a better fight. He will look to go one step better than what he did last season and win the title.
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Can he do that? There's certainly reason to believe that he could. Here's a look at three reasons why that could happen:
#1 Ferrari have massive scope of improvement
It's important to realize that Ferrari were severely handicapped by their unreliable power unit. The team was having a pretty impressive season before disaster struck at Barcelona, and Leclerc had to retire from the lead.
That was followed by another DNF at Baku, and from then on, Max Verstappen had a significant lead and never looked back.
Multiple reports claimed later in the season that Ferrari were so severely compromised that they had to turn down the engine by 20%, so the car struggled. There were even suggestions that the excessive tyre wear suffered by Ferrari was a consequence of that too.
During the winter break, there have been reports floating around that the Ferrari power unit is looking at a 30 BHP boost. Most of that is a result of the improved reliability of these units. That 30 BHP boost is free laptime and would further help the tyre wear issues that plagued both Carlos Sainz and Leclerc.
In terms of teams with the most potential to improve, Ferrari are arguably at the top of that heap. If the Italian team fulfils that potential, we could be looking at a season where they have the perfect driver in the Monagesque to make the most of it.
#2 Fred Vassuer and Charles Leclerc combo could prove to be magic bullet
One of the biggest drawbacks of having Mattia Binotto at the top of the heap in Ferrari was his lack of experience in the leadership role.
Binotto is one of the best technical minds in F1. His work on the side pods in 2017 and 2018 was groundbreaking, and he deserves a lot of credit for the success of those cars.
He was not, however, a leader in the truest sense. Ferrari were a house in disarray last season with the way the team continued to implode in races. The strategic unit committed one disaster after the other. Reliability was a major issue, and Leclerc himself was quite vocal of the shortcomings of the car.
In that situation, Binotto just didn't shine through as a leader and almost gave a delusional take on the situation. His lack of grip on the reality of things worked heavily against him, and he ended up losing his position.
In Fred Vasseur, Ferrari now have a seasoned veteran who has led teams for decades. He started in junior categories before working his way up. He knows and understands the importance of a talent like Leclerc, something Binotto failed to. Most importantly, Vasseur has worked with the likes of Nico Rosberg, Lewis Hamilton and Nico Hulkenberg when they were making their way through the junior categories.
Most importantly, Vasseur knows how to direct a team in the right direction. A team like Ferrari might just need a combo like Leclerc and Vasseur to return to the top.
#3 Red Bull's compromised development time
Arguably one of the more important factors that could prove to work in Leclerc's favour is the compromised development time for champions Red Bull.
The team was already going to have a reduced development time, as it won the title last season. To exacerbate matters, comes the cost cap breach penalty, putting the team in a compromised position.
Sure it held an advantage over the grid in terms of performance, but it was not similar to the kind of performance advantage Mercedes enjoyed in the turbo-hybrid era.
Red Bull are within reach of both Mercedes and Ferrari. The latter are closer to the Austrian team in terms of performance last season and looking at a much bigger scope of improvement and could get the jump on everyone.
If that happens, Leclerc will be equipped with the fastest car on the grid. As a driver, there isn't a better position to be in, and he will become the favourite for the title.
