Having the Worst Season Start, Charles Leclerc Reveals His Only Hope for a Ferrari Turnaround: “I Am Confident That…”

Ferrari hasn’t added a championship trophy to their cabinet in more than 15 years. Last year, Scuderia Management decided to fire the Italian engineer after Mattia Binotto and the two Ferrari drivers demolished most of their aspirations. Later, the task of bringing a championship for the Tifosi was given to a Frenchman, Frederic Vasseur. As the campaign so far hasn’t brought much joy to the camp, the championship has so far eluded the Maranello-based team.

As already known, Charles Leclerc‘s season got off to a terrible start with two DNFs and a grid penalty in the first three races. Things had improved a little since Monegasque obtained a podium finish in Azerbaijan. However, there is still much work to be done since the Prancing Horse can’t carry their decent qualifying pace to race day. Nevertheless, the team’s star driver Leclerc has now bet on the team boss in an attempt to salvage some hope.

Leclerc was questioned about how he felt regarding the fact that the season’s start didn’t go as planned. While speaking with AS the 25-year-old replied, “It’s frustrating, in a way. There were high expectations for this year and we are not as competitive as we expected.” [Translated using Google]

Revealing the only hope for a turnaround, he added, “But we tried to analyze it with Fréd (Vasseur), with the team. We understand some things and in the medium and long term I trust Fréd’s vision. We will come to the fight. The question is when, we want it to be as soon as possible.”

While exhibiting signs of optimism, the Ferrari driver concluded, “But I know that the team is going in the right direction and I am confident that we will return.”

Read More: “Celebrated Too Early”: Tifosi’s Hopes Dashed Again After Frederic Vasseur’s Aston Martin-Like Tactics for Ferrari Faltered

Given how the Italian engineer had structured the squad and led it to the front grid, it was quite challenging for anyone to take the seat left vacant by Mattia Binotto. Since then, Vasseur has frequently been compared to other team leaders as well. However, when questioned about a comparison between the Frenchman and the most successful Ferrari team leader, Leclerc gave a calming reply.

Charles Leclerc reacts when asked if Frederic Vasseur can recreate the era of Jean Todt

The Scuderia team underwent a comprehensive makeover under Jean Todt’s direction in order to resurrect its fortunes. Michael Schumacher from Benetton was brought on the side by Todt as his initial action. And then it all became history. The Frenchman and the legendary Michael Schumacher won five straight drivers’ championships, along with eight constructors’ championships during his time as a team boss for Ferrari.

When asked to the Monegasque if he believes Vasseur can repeat the game for Ferrari, the winner of 25 podiums said, ” I don’t want to compare Fréd with Jean Todt, nor me with Michael Schumacher, because it wouldn’t be correct. But it is what we want to achieve with Fréd. Do I think that with Fréd I can win a World Cup? I honestly feel that he is the right person to put Ferrari back in front.”

Leclerc said, without getting into specifics, that he has only worked with two team leaders, and he thinks their methods differ, “I have only been with Mattia (Binotto) and Fréd, and I can say that the approach is very different. But I will not go into details.”

However, at last by concluding that Vasseur has a “great eye” Leclerc said, “(Fréd) You have a very good vision of what the team needs to progress, weaknesses or failures that may seem very obvious from the outside, but what exactly can you do to improve that department? There Fréd has a great eye to understand how progress can be made.”

Watch This Story: How Long Will Charles Leclerc Wait for Ferrari – Will He Leave for Some Other team Post-2024?

In light of the aforementioned, do you believe Vasseur can be the one to end the Prancing Horse’s title drought once and for all?