Ferrari has expressed that it must aim to operate on the same level that Charles Leclerc can to ensure that it produces a championship-winning package in Formula 1.
Leclerc will go into the remaining six rounds this season as an outside title challenger as he sits third in the Drivers’ Championship, 86 points behind Max Verstappen.
The Monegasque has delivered an impressive campaign to date, achieving two race victories – including a win on Ferrari’s home ground at Monza – and nine podiums.
Ferrari Senior Performance Engineer Jock Clear is certain that Leclerc has all the credentials to be a World Champion, starting with his prowess in one-lap conditions.
“Absolutely, he’s got what it takes to be a world champion,” Clear told F1.com.
“I’ve said that from 2018 – obviously we work with him in the academy. We’ve seen all the right things at all the right stages.
“He’s got the qualifying pace. My God, I honestly think he’s the best qualifier we’ve seen.
“It’s difficult to go back as far as Michael and Mika and people like that, but he is the best qualifier, for sure.
“And his race management, you look at Monza, it’s just exceptional.
“When everything is lined up, he can deliver. It’s one of those things that I’ve often battled – mentioning no names, but if I give you the words, you’ll know exactly whose mouth they came from – there was a lot of ‘we pay him a lot of money, he just needs to drive the ‘king car’.
“And you’re like, if you think that’s what it’s all about, you’re missing something, because there’s a whole lot of stuff that needs to go on to get all those ducks lined up.”
Ferrari wasn’t prepared to win 2022 title
Ferrari has earned a reputation eor being unable to sustain a championship assault and Leclerc’s best shot at a title in 2022 unravelling in spectacular circumstances.
Leclerc capitalised on Ferrari’s revival under F1’s new regulations that term to open up a 34-point lead inside three races, but he ended the campaign 146 points down.
The Italian marque spurned several opportunities through strategic blunders and technical gremlins, while it also lost out in the development race up against Red Bull.
Clear has conceded that Ferrari was not at a stage in its development as a team where it was prepared in all departments to compete with an established competitor.
“Was that genuinely a chance for Ferrari to win a World Championship? You have to say yes it was,” he accepted.
“Because at one point we were 40 points ahead in the Drivers’ Championship and we were in a position to beat Max at a lot of circuits. So we weren’t ready as a team.
“I think the way the development went, Red Bull out-developed us by the end of the year.
“Certainly the ducks didn’t all line up, but certainly there were things that Charles would say were not at championship level during that year throughout what we did.
“But that is exactly the point. You’re not going to win a championship until all of you are at that level.
“It’s unfair to say that Mercedes only won all those championships because they had the best car. They had the best everything.
“It’s the same with Max in the last three years: He’s been very good but Red Bull have been very good.”
Clear insists onus is on Ferrari, not Leclerc
Clear is adamant that Ferrari harbours zero concerns about whether Leclerc is up to the task as he acknowledged that the onus is on the team to step up to the plate.
“So when Charles is going to perform at that level, we need to perform at that level with him,” he continued.
“And my point when I say confidently ‘yes he is’, when we’re all at that level, I know he will perform at that level.
“I know that he can do what’s required when all of us are punching at that weight.
“So when we are in a position and we as a team deliver a car consistently to challenge for a championship, which I think we’re on the brink of now, Charles will deliver.”
READ MORE: Ferrari argues criticism levelled at Charles Leclerc’s F1 race pace was ‘not fair’
