Charles Leclerc on Ferrari's 2022 struggles: Very very fast car the Saturday, a bit more difficult to understand the Sunday

Charles Leclerc felt that the 2022 Ferrari challenger was a brilliant car during qualifying on low fuel and fresh tires but as soon as the tires got older or the fuel load increased, the car became more difficult to understand.

The Ferrari driver finished the season second in the championship behind Max Verstappen. While the car was competitive during Saturdays, Charles Leclerc tended to lose out more than the Red Bull driver on Sundays and cede whatever advantage he had.

During the year-end FIA Gala, Charles Leclerc was questioned about his views on the Ferrari challenger this season. He said:

“I think with new tyres, low fuel, it was a really really strong car. The feeling was really really good. We were struggling a little bit more come the Sunday, especially with tyre degradation, struggling to put the car in the right place for it to be nice on tyres, and we’ve paid the price quite often come the Sunday. But yeah, very very fast car the Saturday, a bit more difficult to understand the Sunday.”

Charles Leclerc had a few moments this season that were hard to process. The DNF in Spain was no fault of his own, or the one in Baku where the PU failed on him again.

Leclerc, however, revealed that during the season, it's very hard to process these disappointments because of the busy nature of the calendar and they hurt more when you look back at them in the off-season. He said:

“I think in the heat of the moment and in the heat of the season races are coming quite quickly, so I think it’s okay. It’s just at the end of the season then you look back at this season and you feel it a bit more, but during the season, it wasn’t that difficult.”

Charles Leclerc picks his best win of the 2022 season

When asked to pick his favorite win of the season, Leclerc chose the Austrian GP. The driver beat Max Verstappen in Red Bull's home race in the Red Bull ring and did so by showing impressive tire management. Leclerc said:

“My best one probably is Austria. It also felt particularly good after the previous races that didn’t go too much our way, so Austria was a really good one. We had very good tyre management, a very good pace from the first lap to the last one. So it felt good.”

Leclerc will be eagerly waiting for the 2023 F1 season to start and will hope to put together a much better title challenge this time around.