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Charles Leclerc's maiden DNF of the season at the 2022 F1 Spanish GP could be the first sign of a chink in Ferrari's armor, according to former driver-turned-analyst David Coulthard.
Coulthard, who has raced a combined 247 times in F1 with the likes of Williams, McLaren, and Red Bull, feels Leclerc's reliability issues in Barcelona could be an ominous sign for the Scuderia.
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Speaking to Channel 4 after the race at the Circuit de Barcelona-Catalunya, the Scotsman said:
“I think what will define this World Championship, not just about pure pace and the development rate, is reliability. Red Bull had issues with DRS [in Barcelona], Ferrari have shown they have had some issue with the powertrain – not only on the Ferrari but also on the Alfa Romeo of [Guanyu] Zhou. So, is that the first chinks in the armour? Mercedes were getting their drivers to back off at the end as well, hot conditions here, but there will be many other hot races.”
Coulthard also weighed in on the current driver hierarchy at the Scuderia between Charles Leclerc and Carlos Sainz. The 51-year-old said:
“It may be that this regulation of car for Carlos [Sainz] is opening the gap to Charles [Leclerc] a little bit. It does feel like he’s number one minus [at Ferrari] – I don’t want to say he’s the number two driver, but when a Ferrari goes top, more often than not it’s Charles.”
Leclerc and Ferrari had to relinquish their lead in both the World Drivers' and Constructors' Championship standings respectively due to their reliability issues in Spain.
Ferrari boss chooses to stay optimistic after Charles Leclerc's Barcelona DNF
Despite Charles Leclerc's inopportune DNF at the 2022 F1 Spanish GP, Ferrari team boss Mattia Binotto is choosing to remain positive about his team's chances going ahead in the 2022 campaign.
Speaking to Sky F1 following the race at the Circuit de Barcelona-Catalunya, the Italian team principal shared his thoughts, saying:
“I think at the end, we need to keep optimistic. It’s been a positive overall weekend in the way we’ve brought upgrades, the car has been fast, we made a fantastic pole on Saturday and the race pace today was great. After a few races where we were struggling with tyre wear and tyre degradation, today at least we were pretty fast.”
After the disappointment in Spain, Leclerc will be hoping for better luck in front of a home crowd at Monaco GP, a race he has not been able to finish in his F1 career thus far.
