Charles Leclerc showed nerves in Imola under pressure from the Ferrari home crowd for the first time in the 2022 Formula 1 season. He was already off the track several times during the rainy Friday practice session, and in Sunday’s race he threw away what seemed like third place – driven by the ambition to possibly catch Sergio Pérez and finish second.
“You can’t afford such mistakes in such a tough championship,” Ferrari legend Gerhard Berger told “formel1.de”. “If something goes wrong with an aggressive overtaking maneuver: okay, but he was all alone, he had all the time in the world and he actually had a very safe third place and a lot of points, and they can hurt in the end,” criticized Berger.
In his eyes, Leclerc is “a very fast pilot, a good pilot”, but: “Now we’ll see how it goes over a season when it comes to the championship; how many mistakes he makes in the end.” And he emphasizes: “Something like this shouldn’t happen.”
In 2022, Ferrari has built a winning car under its own power for the first time in years. Berger is convinced that Leclerc and Carlos Sainz are basically good enough to win races with them. The Ferrari is now good enough. “Now we’ll see how good the two drivers really are,” says the Austrian.
Berger thinks: Leclerc “must deliver now”
Leclerc is “certainly absolutely top in terms of speed”, but: “The mistake shouldn’t have happened to him. Mistakes happen, there’s no question about it. But if you look at last year’s world championship, it was so close in the end that such mistakes can hurt. […] Charles is a good man. But he has to deliver now.”
Despite the 27-point gap that Verstappen currently has, Berger currently sees the “advantage at Red Bull”. Although this “didn’t appear that much in the first races, I think they’re a bit heavy in weight and have a bit of reserves.” Whereas the Ferrari is already running “at full speed”.
In addition: “Pérez has made a huge step forward, but is clearly behind Max.” That makes him the “perfect number 2”. Sainz, on the other hand, is “a good man” who “does not like to be pushed into the second row”. He will “take points away from Leclerc at some point” and “that could play very well into Red Bull’s hands”.