In 2022 Ferrari ran out of steam way too early in their Formula 1 campaign, they stopped winning in July, thus no surprise Charles Leclerc is fired up to add to his five Grand Prix victories and give it a proper title shot this year.
The great Italian team's easy capitulation last year was one of the biggest disappointments of the 2022 F1 season, their limp wristed pursuit of Max Verstappen and Red Bull was ineffective as the Scuderia lost their way, after bolting out of the starting blocks with much promise.
For this year 25-year-old Leclerc revealed his lofty ambitions, the Monegasque speaking during Ferrari's classy launch of the SF23 at Fiorano: "The goal is to win. I am really looking forward to getting back in the car and trying to win that championship
"Last year was a good step forward. We need to do just the same this year and hopefully get that championship. That is the target for the team and for me too, get more wins, be more consistent from the first race to the last race.”
An F1 driver's title eludes Ferrari since Kimi Raikkonen did the business in 2007; a year later the Finn and Felipe Massa contributed to their final F1 constructors' championship triumph. In other words, the suffering for Tifosi has gone on far too long!
No doubt, the lessons of last year are still fresh for everyone at Ferrari
During the course of the 2022 season, the sport's greatest team lost their way, not only on the development of the F1-75 but also on questionable strategies and laughable pitstops.
Too many embarrassing slip-ups and inexplicable gaffes were simply unacceptable for the team that wrote the template on F1 dominance, two decades ago with Michael Schumacher.
Leclerc reflected on last year: “2022 was a good step forward following two difficult years, but we finished second in the drivers’ championship and also in the constructors’ championship. We have done a great job trying to address the weaknesses that there were on the car and hopefully it will be better this season.”
During the launch, Leclerc gave the spanking new F1 Ferrari a brief shakedown, declaring over the radio: "Feels good."
He reported afterwards: "Our whole team has put a lot of work into this new car and seeing it in front of us for the first time just feels amazing. It means that the start of the season is very close, which is always an exciting moment.
"It felt great to drive it here at Fiorano, sharing the experience with our tifosi and partners. We still have to wait for the first real laps at testing to make any real assessments though," added Leclerc, who finished runner-up to Verstappen last year, notably however it was his best championship finish to date.
F1 testing takes place at Bahrain International Circuit from 23 to 25th February, with the first race of the 2023 F1 season at the island kingdom's Sakhir circuit on 5 March.
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