Charles Leclerc termed as “a puppy occasionally peeing on the carpet” by former Red Bull driver

Former F1 driver David Coulthard has labeled Ferrari driver Charles Leclerc as "a puppy occasionally peeing on the carpet," mentioning that he makes some driving mistakes. Comparing him to Max Verstappen, Coulthard stated that F1 would have a golden era if Leclerc worked on his little mistakes.

Leclerc has been driving with Ferrari since the 2019 F1 season and remains a strong contender. He was in direct battle for the World Championship in the 2022 season and has also won three races so far this season. However, according to former F1 driver Coulthard, he still occasionally makes some mistakes, which, if he works on, would make him a much stronger driver on the grid.

"I think that Max [Verstappen] arrived as the finished article, just with a few rough edges, when he came to F1, where for others, it's taken a bit longer," Coulthard said on the Formula for Success podcast. "Charles Leclerc, he's still like a puppy occasionally peeing on the carpet."

"But once they iron out all those little mistakes, I think we're going into a golden era of F1."

Leclerc has been competitive of late due to Ferrari's upturn in race pace. The Italian team has moved to second place in the constructors' championship and chasing McLaren for the title. However, the recent Brazilian Grand Prix did not yield the desired result for Ferrari.

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Charles Leclerc reacts to disappointing result in Brazil

The 2024 F1 Brazilian GP was one of the most eventful races in the current season. Treacherous conditions on the track proved to be a challenge for the drivers and the grid witnessed multiple crashes, as well as a red flag because of the weather.

Meanwhile, Ferrari suffered a loss as Carlos Sainz crashed out. The car of Charles Leclerc managed to bring in a P5. Reacting to the race and the situation, he said:

"With the new tyres, low fuel, you can extract more out of the car, but in the race, we were nowhere – and more than being nowhere, it was extremely difficult to drive, extremely difficult to not do any mistakes," Charles Leclerc stated (via Motorsport).

"At the end, looking at all this, the only thing we could be a little bit satisfied of is being in front of the two McLarens and to only lose four points in the constructors is big damage limitation on the weekend where they seem to be so strong."

There is currently a 36-point gap between Ferrari and McLaren in the constructors' championship. With three races remaining in the season, there could be tough competition between the two teams as they battle for the title.