The Monegasque driver took advantage of Ferrari’s strong start to the 2022 campaign by winning two of the first three Grands Prix.
However, the combination of a resurgent Red Bull, reliability and strategy issues at Maranello allied to driver error derailed Ferrari’s title hopes.
This all came into more of a spotlight after Ferrari announced on Tuesday that team boss Mattia Binotto would step down at the end of the year.
Reflecting on the season he finished second to world champion Max Verstappen, Leclerc said there was a lot of encouragement to take from the fact that Ferrari had made good progress with his car’s pace.
However, he was aware that Ferrari needed to take a hard look at the issues it faced midway through the campaign.
“Obviously if I take a step back, given how far we’ve come last year, it’s an incredible step forward,” he said ahead of news of team boss Mattia Binotto’s departure.
“But obviously I can’t ignore our mid-season which was super frustrating.
“We went from leading the championship with quite a few points to being behind by quite a few points. And it was a frustrating part of the season.
“So overall we just have to take all the mistakes we’ve made this year and try to improve for next year.
“I think we’ve really taken a step forward in terms of strategy and decision-making recently, in the last few races.
“Unfortunately, it was a little more difficult to show it because the pace is not as good as at the start of the season. But I am convinced that in terms of pace we will manage to catch up with Red Bull next year.
A discouraged Charles Leclerc, Ferrari F1-75, after losing the lead at Beausset
Photo by: Carl Bingham / Motorsport Images
Leclerc felt there were three key areas Ferrari needed to focus on next year if they were to make the progress they needed to challenge for the championship. It was about reliability, strategy and a better understanding of tire management.
“It’s hard to rank them but reliability was an issue at one point in the season, which we paid the price for later with penalties and other things,” he said.
“Strategy, I think we made too many mistakes at one point in the season, and tire management, we weren’t 100% consistent enough.
“Abu Dhabi was a good race but we also have very bad races at times and we don’t seem to have figured out yet how to have good tire management all the time.
“Those are the three key aspects that we are focusing on right now.
“I felt like the strategy was definitely a step forward in the last few races, like I said before. Hard to show because we don’t have the pace we had at the start of the year but the way we communicate, how we make decisions is better.
“Of course there were some mistakes, but I think we made better decisions on race day. Tires, strategy and obviously reliability which we can’t forget are the three things we’re going on focus.”
Charles Leclerc, Ferrari F1-75
Photo by: Mark Sutton / Motorsport Images
Leclerc also made it clear that he was not free from blame for the personal mistakes that cost him wins this season.
“If anything, I could have pushed less on some occasions, like in France,” he said. “But I think in the early years there was always one particular area that I focused on because I knew it was a weak point.
“I think now I’ve been in Formula 1 for a few years and it’s more about getting the details and being 100 per cent as often as possible.
“That’s where I’ll try to focus on next year, to try to be 100 per cent. And then I’m convinced that whenever I’m 100 per cent, I’m really good.
The Monegasque driver took advantage of Ferrari’s strong start to the 2022 campaign by winning two of the first three Grands Prix.
However, the combination of a resurgent Red Bull, reliability and strategy issues at Maranello allied to driver error derailed Ferrari’s title hopes.
This all came into more of a spotlight after Ferrari announced on Tuesday that team boss Mattia Binotto would step down at the end of the year.
Reflecting on the season he finished second to world champion Max Verstappen, Leclerc said there was a lot of encouragement to take from the fact that Ferrari had made good progress with his car’s pace.
However, he was aware that Ferrari needed to take a hard look at the issues it faced midway through the campaign.
“Obviously if I take a step back, given how far we’ve come last year, it’s an incredible step forward,” he said ahead of news of team boss Mattia Binotto’s departure.
“But obviously I can’t ignore our mid-season which was super frustrating.
“We went from leading the championship with quite a few points to being behind by quite a few points. And it was a frustrating part of the season.
“So overall we just have to take all the mistakes we’ve made this year and try to improve for next year.
“I think we’ve really taken a step forward in terms of strategy and decision-making recently, in the last few races.
“Unfortunately, it was a little more difficult to show it because the pace is not as good as at the start of the season. But I am convinced that in terms of pace we will manage to catch up with Red Bull next year.
A discouraged Charles Leclerc, Ferrari F1-75, after losing the lead at Beausset
Photo by: Carl Bingham / Motorsport Images
Leclerc felt there were three key areas Ferrari needed to focus on next year if they were to make the progress they needed to challenge for the championship. It was about reliability, strategy and a better understanding of tire management.
“It’s hard to rank them but reliability was an issue at one point in the season, which we paid the price for later with penalties and other things,” he said.
“Strategy, I think we made too many mistakes at one point in the season, and tire management, we weren’t 100% consistent enough.
“Abu Dhabi was a good race but we also have very bad races at times and we don’t seem to have figured out yet how to have good tire management all the time.
“Those are the three key aspects that we are focusing on right now.
“I felt like the strategy was definitely a step forward in the last few races, like I said before. Hard to show because we don’t have the pace we had at the start of the year but the way we communicate, how we make decisions is better.
“Of course there were some mistakes, but I think we made better decisions on race day. Tires, strategy and obviously reliability which we can’t forget are the three things we’re going on focus.”
Charles Leclerc, Ferrari F1-75
Photo by: Mark Sutton / Motorsport Images
Leclerc also made it clear that he was not free from blame for the personal mistakes that cost him wins this season.
“If anything, I could have pushed less on some occasions, like in France,” he said. “But I think in the early years there was always one particular area that I focused on because I knew it was a weak point.
“I think now I’ve been in Formula 1 for a few years and it’s more about getting the details and being 100 per cent as often as possible.
“That’s where I’ll try to focus on next year, to try to be 100 per cent. And then I’m convinced that whenever I’m 100 per cent, I’m really good.