Charles Leclerc Gives F1 a Reality Check After Troubles with Daniel Ricciardo & Sebastian Vettel

The F1 2022 season begins tomorrow with relaxations on the COVID-19 protocols; however, there have already been two positive cases in the sport. McLaren’s Daniel Ricciardo has recently been deemed fit to compete in the upcoming race weekend after missing the entire Bahrain pre-season test. Moreover, Aston Martin driver Sebastian Vettel is now also tested positive for the virus, meaning that he will miss the 2022 season opener Bahrain GP. In like of this, Ferrari driver Charles Leclerc shared his concern that the virus is still there and everyone should be still cautious about it.

“We need to be cautious, also in-between drivers and all of these things, because COVID has not disappeared from one day to another,” the 24-year-old expressed. “Still now, if you have COVID, you cannot race, it’s very costly. We still need to be very careful.”

Can Charles Leclerc win the Bahrain GP?

Ferrari was impressive throughout both the pre-season testing at Barcelona and Bahrain. The 2022 challenger F1-75 showcased some magnificent pace and the drivers behind the wheels also pushed the cars to bring out the potential.

At the moment, the Italians are the favorites to win the Bahrain GP. Even last year’s Bahrain GP winner Lewis Hamilton believes Charles Leclerc and Carlos Sainz to win the season opener with a 1-2 finish. However, the Ferrari driver Carlos Sainz rejected those praises because he believes the German constructors are still capable of dominating in the first race.

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Meanwhile, the 24-year-old Leclerc is eyeing to win every single race this season. The Monegasque last stood on the very top of the podium in the 2019 season in Italy and Belgium. Last season, he stood only once at the podium, finishing second in the British GP. Leclerc expressed in an interview, “They asked me a number of wins I would like. Immediately I said 23, then more realistically I said five.”

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The Ferrari duo is one of the best driver line-ups this season, which is also among the favorites to win the Bahrain GP. Therefore, it would be fascinating to see whether the trophy from the first race comes to the Maranello base or not.