Mercedes will fight for the title again next year, says Leclerc. Ferrari driver speaks positively about German team

Ferrari driver Charles Leclerc believes Mercedes will be back in the title fight next year with a very strong car. The German team struggled this year, finishing only third in the Constructors’ Cup. Will Leclerc’s prediction come true in the coming season?

The Mercedes-AMG Petronas F1 team has not had a dazzling season this year. They finished only third in the Constructors’ Cup and the first half of the season in particular was a very difficult affair for the German team.

Mercedes conceptually failed to make the transition to the new era of Formula 1, its cars suffered perhaps most of all from porpoising, Lewis Hamilton complained about the poor handling of the car and performance was also down significantly.

However, in the second half of the season, Mercedes managed to come up with effective upgrades and in the last three races of the 2022 season, it ran comparable or even better times than Ferrari and Red Bull.

And quite objectively, we have to admit – hats off to the German stable for their season-long hard work that has brought them significantly closer to the top two teams. George Russell even scored his first career win, with both drivers recording 17 podiums and only 3 retirements overall.

And in the end, even the 2022 season numbers don’t look as dire as first thought. Though yes, the winner of eight straight titles is simply used to something else entirely.

Leclerc’s statement

The Ferrari driver seems convinced that Mercedes will indeed return to the title race in 2023, given their strong progress this year.

It should be noted the Monegasque driver took three wins for Ferrari this year, finishing second in the drivers’ championship behind champion Max Verstappen.

“I believe Mercedes will be back in the game. I haven’t seen any signs of another team joining the top three yet, but Mercedes will definitely be there next year with a very strong car,” Leclerc said of the Silver Arrows, quoted by Motorsport.

“I think they have understood what they did wrong and that is a sign that they will do better. So hopefully next year it will be a three-team fight,” he concluded.

F1, Motorsport