Leclerc on first part of season: 'It didn't went well'

Actually, Charles Leclerc' s goal was to have a serious shot at the world title this season, after finishing second last year. Going into the summer break, it is clear that the absolute top prize is not in it for the Ferrari driver in 2023 either. With 99 points, he is fifth in the championship, and therefore there is only one conclusion possible for the Monegasque.

Speaking to GPblog and others, Leclerc said of the first half of the F1 season: "It didn't went well. Before the first race, the target was to do a step better compared to last year, which was to win the World Championship. If we look at the first half of the year, we are very far from where we put our expectations before the season. So on the other hand, as soon as we understood that, we reset it. And there was an incredible reaction from the team. They brought upgrades sometimes a month and a half earlier."

According to Leclerc, the staff at the factory have had to work hard. However, Ferrari still has a way to go, the Monegasque realises. "I think we still need to try and understand, because if I do a step back in the last two races, I think we expected to be much more competitive in Budapest than on a track like here. And at the end is the opposite. So these are things that we need to look at, because maybe we haven't optimized the package in races like Budapest. And maybe we've done something that was surprisingly good on a track like here."

"So it's good anyway to finish on a positive note the first part of the season. And now we'll take the time of the summer break, or at least whenever the guys can work again, to try and analyze those two last races and hopefully maximize the package at all races for the second half of the season," Leclerc concluded.