There is no doubt about one thing, Charles Leclerc even after having taken them from Max Verstappen – especially the tear-off visors – continues to see the glass as half full. 2022 was the year of truth but more than for winning the world championship, to get back into the game with the greatest. The fight with Red Bull, deeply mature compared to the unripe Cavallino, it is highlighting every possible defect to be filed in view of 2023. The year in which promises and hopes will become concrete objectives.
There are still 8 races to face but the gap of Verstappen in the standings it has reached if not a mathematical certainty, almost. The only thing that could reopen the championship is a series of withdrawals by the new Dutch champion, who will play this second round of the second half of the season at home. Max sealed Zandvoort's return to the calendar last year with a landslide victory and is preparing to do so again in 2022. Charles however, he is not willing to leave the table set for him, on the contrary, aims to by itself but above all by the team an important response in Holland, a win.
In the Netherlands, answers are awaited
Are the obvious difficulties of the F1-75 in Belgium an isolated case or will it be the "little tune" that will accompany us until the end of the season? To find out, we will necessarily have to carefully observe the Dutch weekend. Find out if, and how, the anti-porpoising directive influenced the performance of the F1-75 and at the same time look from the other side of the garage, to see if the competitiveness of Red Bull was attributable only to the conformation of the track or if there was a further evolutionary step of the already performing RB18. The climate of expectation, with one match on each side – now it's played at Max's home but let's not forget that in a week it will be Monza's turn to welcome the Reds warmly – is growing, but Charles is not afraid of the "orange tide".
"In Holland it will be different from Belgium, but we need to be clear about the situation to avoid a similar situation at Monza. We want to win at Max's house and then at home. We take it race by race. We are at Max's house, there will be a lot of orange in the grandstand, the following week I hope there will be a lot of red in the bleachers. But anyway I'll be looking at the track, not the standsCharles Leclerc told the media in pre-weekend interviews.
Red Bull arrives in Holland as the big favorites but, to add further value to the declarations of the Ferraristi, there is a Max Verstappen who is not entirely calm in view of the home Grand Prix.“In Belgium it went better than expected for us – Max said in the press conference – The track suited our car just fine, but here you need more load, because the speed on the straight counts less. It's a bit of a question mark to know how fast we will be compared to the others. Overall, I think ours is a very efficient car that goes straight down the road. At Spa we were also in the right window. It was very pleasant to drive. Furthermore, I don't think there will be an understeer problemIt depends more on how the tires work. Here in Zandvoort they get very hot and lose performance during the lap. This year I expect something similar”.
Holland or Monza? I want to win both races
Charles never gave up and despite the various difficulties between single-seaters, strategic errors, reliability he always found a reason to keep fighting, if only to take a few points off Max.”If I sign for a win each between Zandvoort and Monza? I sign for two of our victories, Let's hope we finish the year well and get some points back from Max. Then whatever the result I will push to the end. We have to start from here to pick up some points. To start with a win would be nice.
"We have some idea of what happened in Spa, but here in Holland it will be totally different. It's important for 2023, but especially for this year to get back close to Red Bull and win. Let's start with wanting to win here at Max's house, then in Monza. We have to close this season in the best possible way, thinking race by race“. An optimism that is also reflected in the words of his teammate, Carlos Sainz.
Statement source: FormulaPassion
