Ferrari driver coach Jock Clear is adamant Charles Leclerc is ready to deliver a world championship as soon as the team gives him the car to do it.
Leclerc emerged as one of the fastest qualifiers on the grid since joining Ferrari in 2019, racking up 26 poles so far. His number of poles contrasts with winning 'just' seven grands prix, which has netted the Monegasque driver a reputation of being a much better qualifier than racer.
But given a large part of Leclerc's Ferrari career overlaps with the team having been on the back foot in race trim, particularly in 2022 and 2023, his experienced Ferrari coach Clear feels that that reputation is not warranted, certainly not in 2024.
"His reputation in qualifying has certainly been cemented over those years and people tended to say to me two or three years ago he's nowhere near as good in the race as he is in qualifying," Clear told the F1 Nation podcast. "Well, that's not really fair. It's just that he's very, very good at qualifying.
"It's probably true that we've shifted our focus slightly to making the car a better race car. Tyre management is, of course, always a hot topic. But we've seen Charles do some very good races. I remember back in '22 in Austria, where Max [Verstappen] really struggled with tyre degradation, and Charles won that race with a really good drive.
"It's not that Charles historically hasn't been good on tyres. I think that as a combination we haven't been focused that well on tyres.
"What we've seen this year is the result of us being more focused on getting the car working really well in the race and looking after those tyres, and Charles learning from previous years and honing those skills of tyre and race management. So, I think you're just seeing a better representation of Charles as a driver and us as a race team."
Clear believes Leclerc "will deliver" once Ferrari has everything it takes to challenge for the world championship, which hasn't happened yet in his six-year stay at the team. Leclerc and Ferrari came closest in 2022, but were out-developed by Red Bull as Verstappen romped home to his second straight title, while also throwing away points through various mistakes of their own.
"He's got what it takes to be a world champion," Clear said. "He's got the qualifying pace. My god, I honestly think he's the best qualifier we've seen. It's difficult to go back as far as Michael [Schumacher] and Mika [Hakkinen] and people like that, but he is the best qualifier for sure. And his race management, if you look at Monza, it's just exceptional. When everything's lined up, he can deliver.
"Charles hasn't been in that situation yet. Was 2022 genuinely a chance for Ferrari to win a world championship? You have to say it was, because at one point we were 40 points ahead. But we weren't ready as a team and Red Bull out-developed us by the end of the year.
"Certainly, there were things that Charles would say were not at championship level during that year, but that is exactly the point. You're not going to win a championship until all of you are at that level.
"It's unfair to say that Mercedes only won all those championships because they had the best car. They had the best everything. And it's the same with Max [and Red Bull] in the last three years. When we deliver a car to consistently challenge for championship, which I think we're on the brink of now, Charles will deliver."
