Charles Leclerc made it clear before his home Grand Prix in Monaco that he does not attach great importance to being declared number 1 by Ferrari so that he can be supported in the Formula 1 world championship fight if necessary by means of team orders.
“I’m not the one who can make these decisions anyway,” he dismisses. “Red Bull made it very clear how they’re going to handle this very early in the season. But as for us, I don’t know. I haven’t spoken to Mattia about it, nor heard anything about it.”
While Red Bull Sergio Pérez actively called off Sergio Pérez in Barcelona for the first time in the 2022 season to maximize Max Verstappen’s chances of winning, race director Laurent Mekies recently stated that the topic of team orders at Ferrari is not yet being discussed. And that despite the fact that Carlos Sainz is 39 points behind in the World Cup.
Leclerc is convinced that it is “only a matter of time” before Sainz gets his difficulties with the F1-75 under control. And he emphasizes with regard to the team order question: “I don’t want to rely on it anyway. I want to fix it myself in the car. If we’re strong enough, then we can win the races. We’ve already proven that.”
Leclerc is already expecting stronger competition from his own camp next weekend: “Carlos was always extremely strong in Monaco. I’m sure we’ll both fight for pole,” he says. “He’s a very strong driver. He just had a little more trouble than me adjusting to this car.”
The F1-75 fits “a little bit better to my driving style, at least at the beginning of the season,” explains Leclerc and adds: “This year I’m driving with a pretty oversteering balance. I’m fine with that. But I’m sure that Carlos will very soon I’ll be back to full force. In the end, it’s up to me to do the best job I can anyway.”