Is Leclerc too error-prone to become F1 World Champion?
When Charles Leclerc crashed out of qualifying at Turn 7 during the Miami Grand Prix, I can't have been the only one thinking the same thing: Does he commit too many errors to be a World Champion?
13 May 6:15PM
Author Rory Mitchell
RacingNews365

The mistake during Miami Grand Prix qualifying was Charles Leclerc's second after crashing out at Melbourne in four corners of racing. RacingNews365.com asks: Can the Monegasque end Ferrari's 15-year Drivers' Championship drought?

It was a key moment for Leclerc as he could have snatched pole away from Red Bull for a second successive time in 2023, after Max Verstappen made an unforced error on his first lap.
Instead the Ferrari driver took enough kerb to unsettle the rear of his SF-23 and spun off into the TecPro for a second time at that corner, an impressive feat given the run-off is as large as the Miami Beach at Turn 7.

‘Too error-prone?’;

https://racingnews365.com/is-leclerc...world-champion


More brutal Charles Leclerc criticism: ‘He’s driving beyond his capabilities’
May 2023 1:00 PM
Henry Valantine 12
PlanetF1.com

David Coulthard believes the recent mistakes from Charles Leclerc are evidence that he is “driving beyond his own capabilities” at the moment.

“It’s not acceptable and that’s a chink in his armour,” Coulthard said of Leclerc’s errors on Channel 4. He’s brilliantly fast, he extracts a lot from that car, but he makes too many mistakes and there’s too much damage.”

“He knows it, the team will know it, they’ll accept it because what else can you do? You know, you’re not going to fire him, he’s the strongest asset they have there in terms of extracting the last little bit from the car.”

‘Beyond his capabilities’;

https://www.planetf1.com/news/charle...-capabilities/


Charles Leclerc urged to ‘stop crashing his car’
Charles Leclerc and Ferrari have had a poor start to the 2023 season, dropping behind Aston Martin and Mercedes.
12 May 2023
by David Freeman
Formula1News

2009 F1 World Champion Jenson Button remains sympathetic to Charles Leclerc as things take a turn for the worst. After the Miami GP, the former World Champion stated:

“He probably does take more risk than most and he has even said that in qualifying, but he has also put it on pole position when we didn’t think they had a chance over the Red Bull, so it is a tricky one.”

“We are always going to pick him up on what just happened. I like how he goes racing, I like how he puts everything on the line.”

‘Stop crashing his car’;

https://formula1news.co.uk/charles-l...shing-his-car/


What Ferrari makes of Leclerc shunts that ‘reflect his mindset’
May 13 2023
By Edd Straw
The Race

Ferrari’s Jock Clear believes crashes from Charles Leclerc such as his one on the final run of Q3 during the Miami Grand Prix weekend are “a reflection of his mindset” when taking on a rival in a quicker Formula 1 car. Clear, a vastly experienced engineer, is Leclerc’s Ferrari driver coach. They have worked together since Leclerc joined Ferrari ahead of the 2019 season, meaning Clear knows the 25-year-old well.

“I think so,” said Clear when asked if Leclerc has to find the limit. “And in some ways this maybe is a reflection of his mindset when he is up against a car [Red Bull] that is demonstrably quicker than him. It’s, ‘I’m just going to have to make the difference myself’, which, of course, physics ultimately catches you out.”

“We’re not going to say to him, ‘Look calm down, Charles’ because over the course of a year his qualifying is outstanding and that puts him in a very strong position for a lot of races, as it did last weekend [in Baku], clearly.”

“Over the course of a year his qualifying is outstanding”;

https://the-race.com/formula-1/what-...t-his-mindset/


Charles Leclerc's defiant promise after Miami GP crashes speaks volumes about Ferrari ace.
Leclerc crashed not once but twice in Miami, sparking criticism from some about the way he drives and suggestions from some that his penchant for a mistake is a liability for Ferrari.
13:21, 12 May 2023
By Daniel Moxon F1 Writer

Leclerc insists he has no plans to make any major changes to his approach when he gets behind the wheel. When asked if he felt his driving style might need some tweaks, he simply replied: "No, I don't think so." Clearly, Leclerc has not suffered a dent to his confidence through those collisions. The Ferrari racer did admit, though, that he might need to approach the final part of qualifying a little differently.

He added: "I obviously need to, in those weekends especially, just manage it differently in Q3. But, at the end, it's like this. I think I put myself also in a difficult situation because I wanted a very aggressive set-up for qualifying. Knowing that this was the set-up, I will need to extract the most out of the car. I probably did a step too far, and this is something I'll look at."

‘Leclerc's defiant promise’;

https://www.mirror.co.uk/sport/formu...after-29963288


Coulthard: Leclerc errors are ‘not acceptable’
13:40 Sat, 13 May 2023.
by Rob Kershaw
Motorsport Week

Ex-Formula 1 driver David Coulthard reckons Ferrari’s Charles Leclerc needs a World Championship under his belt in order to reduce the number of errors he is making.

The 13-time race winner suggested that a title may have a calming effect on Leclerc. “But I think that all he needs is a World Championship and then he will be the complete package,” added Coulthard. “Right now, he doesn’t have that World Championship. Therefore, he’s driving a little bit desperate and driving beyond his own capabilities.”

‘Leclerc errors are ‘not acceptable’;

https://www.motorsportweek.com/2023/...ot-acceptable/


Coulthard: 'Unacceptable' mistakes a chink in Leclerc's armour
14/05/2023 at 08:43
Phillip van Osten
F1i.com

In Miami last time out, Leclerc crashed twice over the weekend at the same corner, his second error occurring in qualifying and potentially costing him pole position or at the very minimum a spot on the front row of the race.

The Ferrari charger's Australian Grand Prix was also a wash-out due to a mistake and a contact on the opening lap of the race in Melbourne. Last year, Leclerc's early championship battle with Max Verstappen suffered a massive set-back when he crashed in his home race at Paul Ricard while the event.

Whether the five-time Grand Prix winner is error-prone is a difficult call to make given Ferrari's often sorry state in terms of performance, reliability or operational mistakes and which often push Leclerc to the ragged edge and beyond.

‘Push Leclerc to the ragged edge and beyond’;

https://f1i.com/news/474299-coulthar...cs-armour.html


Charles Leclerc told to calm down as his driving comes under fire
Ferrari are continuing to struggle and star man Charles Leclerc is bearing the brunt of the criticism this year.
by David Freeman
13 May 2023
Formula1News

The Miami Grand Prix will have served as a reality check for Charles Leclerc. Saturday’s qualifying ended in despair with him spinning off, signalling the end of the session – the hunt for pole foiled. Former F1 driver and pundit Jolyon Palmer has spoken out on Leclerc’s poor form.

“For such a talented driver, it’s fair to say he makes a lot of mistakes. Leclerc has bemoaned the 2023 Ferrari as being inconsistent with balance, overly wind sensitive and overall tricky to drive, which it might well be, but his driving has also got to be questioned.”

“What we are lacking is consistency from the car,” Leclerc said. “Not even from corner to corner, just in the same corner I can have a huge oversteery balance and then a huge understeery balance.”

‘Calm down’;

https://formula1news.co.uk/charles-l...es-under-fire/