Ferrari’s Charles Leclerc has declared his determination to win this season’s Formula One world championship and redress the bitter disappointment of last year.
Aat the launch of Ferrari’s new car the SF-23 at their test circuit in Fiorano, Leclerc was bullish in his insistence that he could end the Scuderia’s 16-year title drought Leclerc felt strongly that they would be in every position to take the fight to last year’s champion, Red Bull’s Max Verstappen.
“The goal is to win. I am really looking forward to getting back in the car and trying to win that championship,” he said. “Last year was a good step forward. We need to do just the same this year and hopefully get that championship. That is the target for the team and for me too, get more wins, be more consistent from the first race to the last race.”
Leclerc and Ferrari enjoyed a hugely impressive opening, taking two wins in three races last season and amassing a 46-point lead over Verstappen. However, his challenge fell away after a series of reliability issues and strategy errors, as Verstappen cantered to the title leaving Leclerc in second, 146 points behind on the Dutchman.
The Scuderia have not taken the drivers’ championship since Kimi Raikkonen in 2007, but Leclerc believes his team have addressed the issues that bedevilled them last year.
“2022 was a good step forward following two difficult years, but we finished second in the drivers’ championship and also in the constructors’ championship,” he said. “We have done a great job trying to address the weaknesses that there were on the car and hopefully it will be better this season.”
Central to the team’s fresh start has been the appointment of a new team principal, Fred Vasseur, who replaced Mattia Binotto in January. Vasseur was principal at Alfa Romeo and has a huge task, under immense pressure and scrutiny, which he acknowledged at the car launch.
“So far it is intense,” he said. “You can feel the responsibility. But most important is to be successful, we have to deliver. Most important is to win and the challenge is in front of us.
“I don’t want to say it will be easy because Red Bull and Mercedes will have the same target and only one team and driver will win. But we need to have this kind of target. We need to bring the mindset to do a better job tomorrow than today and always to be trying to improve the system.”
One major step forward during the close season is believed to have been improvements made to the engine. Their development is frozen under the regulations, but teams can make adjustments to improve reliability. It is understood that last season the team had to run the engine below its maximum performance potential to avoid failures.
These problems have been ironed out, allowing for an improvement in power that could prove significant. “Last year, it is no secret that reliability was not the best aspect of our engine, but we have done a good job at the factory and we are now ready for the season,” said Vasseur.
Mercedes will unveil their new car, the W14, at Silverstone on Wednesday. Testing takes place in Bahrain for three days from 23 February, with the first race at the Sakhir circuit on 5 March.
