Leclerc keeps making the same mistakes and does not learn like Verstappen

Huge talent at Ferrari

Leclerc had a GP3 and Formula 2 title behind his name as a rookie when he was announced as Sauber's new driver in 2018. The Monegasque was making a big impression in his first F1 season. He needed a few races, but after that, he moved ahead of teammate Marcus Ericsson.

Leclerc is particularly impressive in qualifying. In Brazil, for instance, he still managed to grab a place in Q3, even though it had already started to rain lightly. A thirteenth place in the championship earned the Ferrari junior the dream step after just one year. Indeed, Sergio Marchionne had seen enough. He wanted to bring the young talent to Ferrari, although the Ferrari chief would never experience it himself.

The message for front-runner Sebastian Vettel was clear, and Leclerc's arrival did not exactly improve performance either. Leclerc was much closer to Vettel than Kimi Raikkonen had been in all those years. Indeed, over a full year, Leclerc won the qualifying duel (12-9) and also scored more points than the four-time world champion (264 to 240). This confirmed his status as a top talent.

Although Leclerc is fast, one thing is immediately noticeable: the young driver still makes a lot of mistakes. In 2019, things went wrong at the Grands Prix of Brazil, Germany and Monaco, and the Monegasque also crashed during qualifying in Azerbaijan. In 2020, Leclerc continues that streak with crashes in Sakhir, Italy and Styria.

Leclerc becomes the front-runner

After two years at Vettel's side, Leclerc will have to lead the charge himself at Ferrari in 2021 if Carlos Sainz is brought in as his new teammate. Although the Spaniard scored more points in the first season (with some luck), Leclerc has been whistling his teammate in the qualifying duel for over two years. He is just not a true number one yet.

And that's because Leclerc keeps making his mistakes every year. In 2021 with Ferrari he was less conspicuous, but Leclerc went off in Imola (FP2), Saudi Arabia (FP2), Mexico (FP1), Belgium (FP1) and during qualifying in Monaco. Quite a crash list for someone considered a top talent. It is not ideal for the team either, as the budget cap came into effect in 2021.

In 2022, Ferrari makes a step forward, and so you expect the same from the star driver. However, that does not appear to be the case. Battling with Verstappen, the Dutchman remains faultless, but Leclerc can again be caught in a number of mistakes. In Imola, he still spun without doing much damage, but in France he skidded off the track at the start of the race. Add to that the slips during free practice in Mexico and Belgium, and you have quite a list anyway.

Despite Leclerc's mistakes, he still finishes second in the championship and is aiming for the world title himself. Even at the first Grand Prix, it appears that Ferrari is not so far along, but neither is Leclerc himself. After an engine problem in Bahrain, Leclerc makes four mistakes in the next four races. He crashed in Australia during the race, crashed at the end of the Sprint Shootout in Baku, put his car into the wall during FP2 in Miami and then does the same in Miami during qualifying. Four crashes in five race weekends: it simply does not belong to someone who is considered a star driver.

Verstappen did learn from his mistakes

Defenders/fans of Leclerc will cite that the Monegasque also makes mistakes because his car is not good enough, but that is no excuse. The 2021 champions, Lewis Hamilton and Max Verstappen can hardly be caught making these kinds of mistakes even in an inferior car. Verstappen became pretty consistent after his poor run at the start of 2018 and only dropped out again due to a crash at the 2019 Belgian GP. So even in a year where Red Bull was not yet as dominant, Verstappen already performed much better in that area than Leclerc.

Verstappen has also improved on that front over the years. In 2020, for instance, he did not drop out once through his own fault, and in 2021 there were only the moments on the edge with Hamilton in England and Italy. In Italy, Verstappen was blamed by race officials.

In Saudi Arabia, Verstappen made one more mistake during qualifying. There he could/should have been on pole, were it not for the fact that he hit the wall in the last corner. Since that moment in 2021, however, Verstappen has not been involved in a single crash.

Compare that to Leclerc, who could potentially be Verstappen's biggest challenger, and you can see that Leclerc learns little from his crashes. Indeed, if he continues the current trend, he is going to break his own record number of crashes in a single season.

Is Ferrari the best place?

So Leclerc needs to learn from his mistakes, but perhaps he should also look at the environment he is working in. Leclerc is openly very self-critical, often so much so that you almost feel sorry for him. The Monegasque is very emotional, even after crashes, and you might wonder if an Italian team with so much passion and emotion doesn't just highlight Leclerc's weakness more.

Who knows, maybe the arrival of Vasseur, who knows from past experience how to get the most out of his pupil, will help. In 2023, that has not yet worked out well, but Vasseur is calm. A different environment could also do Leclerc good. Corporate Mercedes might suit him better, but is there room there and do you want that spot next to George Russell?

As Red Bull Racing also does not seem a realistic alternative as long as Verstappen is there, Leclerc mainly has to work on himself. He needs to improve himself and meanwhile drive improvements within the team. He needs to have people around him who get the most out of him. Over one lap that works regularly, now it has to be every qualifying session, every lap of every race and over a whole season. Only then can you really challenge Verstappen.