Charles Leclerc 'being overrated' claims refuted by F1 pundit - "He's had much more to deal with than Lewis and Max"

F1 pundit Peter Windsor has said that Charles Leclerc is not overrated, placing him among the likes of Lewis Hamilton and Max Verstappen.

Although the Monagasque has had a dreadful start to the 2023 season, he has proven himself in the past.

On his YouTube channel, Windsor said that the Ferrari driver is right up there with the likes of Hamilton and Verstappen in terms of skill and talent. He explained that the reason Leclerc has been unable to show that on track is because of political tensions at the Italian team and some personal problems, too. Windosr said:

"I don't know what other people think of him. All I can say is I've always rated him as as a driver up there with Lewis and Max.

"And I think he's had much more to deal with than Lewis and Max in the bulk of his Formula One career, i.e, politics and various other things as well, personal things."

Furthermore, he explained Leclerc's relationship with Ferrari's new team principal, Frederic Vasseur.

Although Vasseur and Charles Leclerc have a long history with each other, as both worked together at Alfa Romeo, Windsor feels Vasseur is not helping Leclerc enough.

He was shocked to see the Monagasque make a mistake in Miami and how Vasseur could have prevented the crash by discussing it after the practice session:

"But I think at the moment he is absolutely at the crossroads of his career, because as I said earlier, I'd like to think Freddie Vassar is going to get Charles being as good as he can be in every respect.

"I was shocked at how messy Charles was in Miami and I would have thought that the errors he made in Miami should have been prevented by Freddie Vassar that's what I'm really saying. I think every good driver needs good people around him telling him you know when to push and when to shove and I'm not sure that's going on I'm surprised."

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Charles Leclerc on unpredictable nature of Ferrari SF-23

Charles Leclerc is not too happy with the Ferrari SF-23's performance.

After the 2023 Miami GP, the Monagasque explained how the car is quite unpredictable with different tyre compounds. According to Pitdebrief, he said:

"We’re going from one compound to the other and we never know what’s going to happen on the new compound. It’s always an unknown whether the car is going to react well, whether the tyres are going to be in the right window.

"This is just very difficult also as a driver to gain the confidence and to adapt your driving because you get from one set to the other and the car is completely in a different window."

Its handling and balance drastically shift from compound to compound, which makes it tough for Charles Leclerc and his teammate, Carlos Sainz.