Ferrari boss Frederic Vasseur reckons Charles Leclerc will take a “step forward” now that he’s overcome the burden of having not won Formula 1’s Monaco Grand Prix.
Leclerc arrived in Monaco this season striving to improve upon a wretched record on home soil that stretched back to his title-winning campaign in Formula 2 in 2017.
The Monegasque driver had started on pole position twice in successive seasons in F1 in 2021 and 2022, but his best race result remained a fourth place in the latter.
However, Leclerc was the pacesetter from the outset this term and survived two standing restarts to convert the pole at Monte Carlo into a victory at the third attempt.
Vasseur expects that the pressure that rested on Leclerc in not having succeeded in Monaco being eradicated will now inspire him to become an even stronger driver.
“First you will stop to ask him each year what will happen next year, what will happen this week, blah blah blah, ” Vasseur said. “This is over now, it’s behind us.
“I think it was an important one that he had a kind of weight on the shoulders for years now about the win in Monaco.
“About sometimes he did small mistakes like F2, sometimes he was unlucky like F1 with me at Alfa Romeo when we had a brake failure and at the end he was not in doubt.
“But he was a bit under pressure with this, but it’s not just about Monaco.
“I think probably for his own self-confidence and for the approach that he has of all the other events, Charles will do a step forward for sure.”
Red Bull’s troublesome weekend has seen Leclerc close to within 31 points of Max Verstappen, who classified sixth, in the Drivers’ Championship with 16 rounds to go.
Asked whether Leclerc was a more rounded driver than he was during his 2022 title challenge, Vasseur said: “This I don’t know and I don’t want to make any conclusion.
“I think this one will help him a lot, for sure, in terms of confidence.
“I think one of the characteristics of the winners is also that they are used to win at one stage and they have the confidence to manage the situation and even when something happens they have the self-confidence, it’s okay, that I will manage it next time. When you are in doubt, it’s a big difference and I think from this one, you will do a step forward for sure.”
