“Much Worse Than Expected”: With Charles Leclerc’s Golden Form Disappeared, Ferrari Shown the Repeated Italian Disappointment

Ferrari, even though is a multi-billion-dollar brand, will always remain a racing team first and a car company second. Perhaps this is why Sebastian Vettel declared to the world that everyone is a Ferrari fan, even when they say they are not. But while we agree that Tifosi is the greatest fan base in Formula 1, is Ferrari catering to them fine? What has unfolded in the 2023 campaign is disgraceful for a team that has been the most successful in F1 history. And Charles Leclerc, not being able to replicate 2022’s start, has not gone past the Italian Media.

Last year, the world thought the time has come when Scarlet will reign in the sport. This reignition happened because of how the first three races unfolded for the Maranello. Leclerc took 2 out of 3 victories and came very close to winning in Jeddah as well. But this year the run has been full of crashes, DNFs, and the age-old strategic blunders. In the F1 Nation Podcast, Italian journalist Roberto Chinchero was asked how Italian Media is reacting to the downfall.

He said, “It is quite a complicated scenario. Because every year in February they are gonna have great expectations and this year they aren’t optimistic but with the feedback coming from the Bahrain test they have a—problematic and trouble in the scenario. And probably it is worse than expected. Especially the start of the year people is comparing the start of 2023 with the start of 2022. That is completely different. So there was eh, especially after two or three races very strong media because of course there were a new team principal.”

Read More: A Hilarious Anecdote Revealed About Charles Leclerc’s Rise to Ferrari Fame After His Iconic Monza Triumph: “A Very Special One”

While Ferrari is not in a great place, their golden boy also seems to not be having a great time stuck in a place where mistakes from both ends are piling up.

“rather stuck at Ferrari,” Ex F1 champ sympathizes with Charles Leclerc

Leclerc was the sole man who, for a brief moment, challenged the might of Max Verstappen and Red Bull. Though he finished second and around 150 points behind Max, he was still the runners up finisher and then there came a point in 2023 where with a few races in he only had 6 points on the board. Does that mean he should go out to seek greener pastures? But can he be is the biggest question.

Ahead of this weekend’s Emilia Romagna Grand Prix, Damon Hill said, “I think he’s rather stuck at Ferrari for a bit. He’s never really been in an extended campaign for the championship. There have been moments that it’s been good and then they’ve faded, and he’s also had these blots on his copybook with qualifying, the banzai lap that goes wrong.”

He added, “When you look around at the top teams, who they have in their teams, they’re probably content with what they’ve got at the moment – I’m not sure that there’s anywhere else for him to go.”

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Do you think Charles can win a championship with Ferrari?