Ferrari star driver Charles Leclerc puts up a new challenge for Red Bull’s Max Verstappen for the upcoming F1 season. The Monegasque believes he’s up for the challenge to stop the Verstappen dominance that has taken over Formula 1 in the last couple of years.

In a recent interview after the United States Grand Prix, Leclerc was asked if F1 is seeing a Max Verstappen era and if he’s up for the task to close the gap next year. The Monegasque was quick to reply, “I hope not. I’ll do everything for it to not happen.”

Amid the cost cap debacle, this question was not taken well by the fans. Nevertheless, it’s pretty clear that Charles Leclerc and his team Ferrari will maximize their chances against Red Bull next year after failing to stop them this year as Max Verstappen picked up two F1 world titles in two back-to-back years with three races to go.

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Ferrari, who started the season off in style, slumped race after race as the season went on. As compared to the Italian team, the Austrian team got better in each race and the constructors’ standings of the 2022 F1 season reflect it all.

What failed for Charles Leclerc and Ferrari against Max Verstappen and Red Bull in 2022?

When Ferrari launched their incredible F1-75 earlier this year, many thought they were back in title contention. The pre-season testing further added to the hopes of the Tifosi around an incredible return. However, as the season went on, the bubble burst as Ferrari suffered numerous crashes and strategy failures.

The start of the season was phenomenal for the Italian team as they picked up two wins in three races through Charles Leclerc. The 25-year-old looked unstoppable in his F1-75 as he went on to pick up pole positions and win races. Carlos Sainz, Leclerc’s teammate, wasn’t further away as the Ferrari duo dominated the initial races. Banking on Red Bull’s unreliability, the Maranello-based team went further ahead in the constructors’ championship.

However, after a few races, Red Bull chased them down and eventually won the constructors’ championship at the US Grand Prix. Max Verstappen, who has now picked up 13 wins in 19 rounds so far, took home his 2022 F1 world title in Japan.

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As the season went by, the Bulls upgraded their RB-18s, worked on their reliability, and chalked out their strategies perfectly to avoid the blunders like Ferrari. All in all, the 2022 season has been almost done and dusted. All eyes will be on the Italian team now to see if they can throw a challenge to the dominant Red Bull Racing next year.