JANUARY 11, 2024

Top Ten of 2023 - Fourth - Charles Leclerc

Charles Leclerc

By Luis Vasconcelos

I’ll stick my neck out and state that Charles Leclerc is currently the fastest qualifier in Formula 1, his ability to explore the absolute limit and the confidence on his own ability to sort out any unexpected behavior from his car making the Monegasque an absolute joy to watch. Like Verstappen, Leclerc prefers a car with a strong front end and a lively rear end, certain he can handle masses of oversteer on the apex of the corners, so when Ferrari had to make changes to the SF-23 to make it more driveable, inducing understeer, the Monegasque suffered a bit and struggle to match Sainz’s pace, especially in the races.

A Ferrari man to the core, he played a key role in helping his team mate win in Singapore, going to a tyre strategy that put him as block to the rest of the field while accepting to pit too early to be a factor in the final laps. With the car finally back to his liking, from Suzuka onwards, he was the biggest challenger to Verstappen in the final races of the season, his move to retake P2 from Pérez with two corners to go in Las Vegas being, in my book, the best overtake of the year.