Charles Leclerc feels ready for the prospect of battling Max Verstappen and Lewis Hamilton for the World Championship. The Monegasque looked to be in strong contention for the title in 2022, having won two of the three opening races. However, Ferrari lost momentum to Red Bull as the season progressed due to struggling with strategy errors, drivers mistakes and issues with reliability. Despite this, Leclerc acknowledges that being in a position to fight for wins during the year can act as a positive factor for what he needs to focus on going forwards. "It changes [things] to fight for wins, just with the mindset and all of these type of things," Leclerc told media, including RacingNews365.com . "At the end, I just need to do exactly the same job as I was doing last year, which was to try and optimise the job that I have to do in the car, [to] try and improve as a team and all of this stuff. "The fact that it [has been] a new car [in 2022 with the regulation changes] doesn't change much either."
Leclerc would welcome three-way title fight
Like Ferrari, Mercedes were unable to match the pace of Red Bull during the 2022 campaign but will be hoping to pose more of a challenge in 2023. When asked if he feels prepared for the possibility of fighting both Verstappen and Hamilton for the title, Leclerc explained: "I do. I would love to see Lewis and Mercedes, Red Bull and Ferrari just on a par to fight for the championship. "That would be amazing and, yes, I do feel ready." Leclerc finished the 2022 season in second place in the World Championship after beating closest rival Sergio Perez by three points.
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