"We’ve been working to get on top of those issues" - Charles Leclerc says Ferrari cannot put its porpoising fixes 'in the bin' just because Mercedes is struggling

Charles Leclerc is not entirely pleased with the FIA's new technical directives, admitting that Ferrari cannot simply do away with their porpoising fixes because Mercedes is struggling.

Following the 2022 F1 Azerbaijan GP, many drivers spoke up about potential health concerns for drivers in both the short and long term. Primary among them was Lewis Hamilton, who was in visible discomfort after a back-breaking drive around the Baku City Circuit. His teammate George Russell has also been vocal about the issue since the start of the season.

The response to this was a new set of technical directives from the FIA at the start of the 2022 F1 Canadian GP that compels teams to prioritize the safety of their drivers ahead of car performance.

The FIA will now be monitoring all cars on the grid for porpoising and could force teams to raise their ride height by as much as 10mm if they feel the bouncing requires it.

Speaking in an interview with Autosport following his resurgent drive from the back of the grid to P5 at the Circuit Gilles Villeneuve, Charles Leclerc shared his thoughts on the decision by the FIA, saying:

“On the one hand, I obviously understand George’s point because when you see him and Lewis [Hamilton] get out of their car after Baku, it’s very bad. You can feel probably the pain Lewis is going through at the moment and this is not acceptable. But on the other hand also, you cannot underestimate the amount of work that’s been done in the last few months by teams to actually get on top of those issues. This has been our main priority since the first time we tried these cars.”

The Monegasque, who has not won a race since the 2022 F1 Australian GP in Melbourne, went on to add:

“We’ve been working to get on top of those issues. I think the improvement has been massive and now all of the work we’ve done, [do we] just put it in the bin because obviously there’s maybe one team that is struggling more than others? This is my point of view. I obviously understand that on Mercedes it’s very bad, but I also think there are maybe fixes for this.”

However, it should be noted that Leclerc's teammate Carlos Sainz has also been one of the drivers who was hoping for the FIA to intervene in the porpoising issue.

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Charles Leclerc 'is a powerful guy with a strong mind', according to former F1 driver Johnny Herbert

Charles Leclerc has the mental fortitude to mount a title challenge against Max Verstappen in the ongoing 2022 F1 season, according to former-driver-turned-analyst Johnny Herbert.

After a blistering start to the season with two wins in the first three rounds, the Ferrari driver has only seen the top step of the podium occupied by Red Bull in the six races since then. This stat is all the more damaging when one considers the fact that Leclerc took pole positions in four out of those six rounds.

Speaking on Sky Sports after the Scuderia botched Charles Leclerc's strategy call and cost him a certain victory at the 2022 F1 Monaco GP, Herbert said:

“Last year Charles [Leclerc] was on pole position and we know that their car has become a serious blow compared to last season. Ferrari didn’t have a very good tactical performance there [in Monaco]. They took away from Charles the chance to win, but he is a powerful guy with a strong mind.”

He continued:

“That’s why he sometimes does very clever things. He’s the kind of person who can have a bad race, that gets stuck somewhere in the back of his mind, but then he carries on in a powerful way.”

Charles Leclerc too believes he can claw his way back into the 2022 F1 World Drivers' Championship battle after falling to P3 in the standings he had led for the opening five rounds.