Charles Leclerc concedes that 2023 was a “disappointing” season for Ferrari, but he remains optimistic about the team’s future prospects after making “huge steps” towards the conclusion of the year.
Ferrari had a strong start to the 2022 season under the new ground effect technical regulations, with Leclerc winning two of the first three races—in Bahrain and Australia—and dominating the championship by 34 points over second-placed George Russell.
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However, their title challenge faded as the year progressed, with Max Verstappen and Red Bull taking the top spot. Before returning, Ferrari finished second, ahead of Mercedes, before returning in 2023, hoping to reignite their title-winning hopes.
However, they failed to do so, with Carlos Sainz’s victory in Singapore being their only win this season. Leclerc was also able to secure five consecutive front-row starts to end the year (including three pole positions) as well as three podiums in the final four races—in Mexico, Las Vegas, and Abu Dhabi—but none could be converted into victory.
Reflecting on a season in which Ferrari wound up third behind Red Bull and Mercedes in the championship, Leclerc said: “To be honest, it’s been a disappointing season. After last year, we expected to come to this season and try and fight for the championship.
“After the first race, we straightaway understood how difficult it would be compared to the Red Bull, which had taken a huge step forward, especially in race pace. We didn’t do the same step. So, from that moment on, it was a bit disappointing.
“On the other hand, if you just look at this season—forget about last season—I think we’ve progressed quite a lot throughout the season, which is positive and makes me confident for the future.
“But there’s a big gap to fill to get back to the Red Bulls, so we’ll work hard during the winter break, and hopefully we’ll come back stronger next year with a car that is capable of winning.”
Ferrari missed out on beating Mercedes in the championship by just three points, and Leclerc later revealed whether that was an accurate representation of the season and if the Scuderia did indeed have the third-best car in 2023.
“Yeah, it depends where we are,” Leclerc explained. “There’s a lot of ups and downs.” We had races where we were clearly the second fastest cars and others where we were possibly the fourth or fifth fastest cars, so it was really ups and downs.
“However, I believe that since Japan, when we upgraded the car, it has gone in the right direction, particularly for my driving style.” I like to put on a strong front, and I felt a lot more at ease and could be much more consistent as a result. So, yeah, that’s a plus.
“Of course, I was disappointed with my third-place finish in the constructors’ standings, as that had been my only goal for the past two or three races.” It lasted to the very end. I tried to give [Sergio Perez] the DRS for him to try and pull away five seconds to George, but that didn’t quite work out.”
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