Red Bull is in a league of its own! The title is still within our grasp, says Charles Leclerc ahead of the Australian Grand Prix

Who will win the world title this year? That is a question we will know the answer to at the end of November this year. Despite a poor start to the new season and obvious problems with the new monocoque, Charles Leclerc is not giving up on winning the overall championship, even though Red Bull’s form in the opening round of 2023 is absolutely devastating.

He failed to finish in Bahrain due to a power unit failure, and finished the second race of the season, and therefore the Saudi Arabian Grand Prix, in seventh place, 43 seconds behind winner Sergio Pérez.

As for his teammate, Carlos Sainz has a much better result from Bahrain, namely fourth place. He then finished the second race less than eight seconds ahead of Leclerc in position number six.

Compared to last year, Leclerc and Ferrari’s entry into the new season cannot be viewed positively. After two races, the Maranello-based team is in fourth place with 26 points, ahead of Red Bull, Aston Martin and Mercedes.

Ferrari has already come in for criticism after the start of the season, as the announced tuning of the power units to top level has obviously not been very successful. Leclerc already received a penalty in the second race of the season for an excessive change of the control electronics.

So although Leclerc has had a poor start to the 2023 season, he is trying not to be frustrated and demotivate himself and his team.

Speaking to Sky Sports F1 on Thursday ahead of the Australian Grand Prix, the Monaco driver said that winning the title in both championships is still within reach.

“Of course (it’s still possible). It’s still early in the season. But we can’t hide behind saying that everything is fine and that from this weekend onwards we will be fighting for the win again. But we should not demotivate ourselves,” Leclerc said in that interview.

“Red Bull is in a league of its own, Aston Martin is also very strong in the race. But in no way do we think the title is out of reach,” he added.

F1, Sky Sports F1