(Motorsport) Scuderia Ferrari driver Charles Leclerc has said that seven time World Champion Lewis Hamilton and Mercedes will compete for the title alongside Red Bull for the 2023 season. The Silver Arrows will unveil their 2023 car W14 on 15th February 2023, hoping that the car will be a big improvement on the disappointing W13 car from 2022. Mercedes have admitted that they got the W13 badly wrong as Hamilton endured his worst ever Formula 1 campaign in 2022, finishing the season without a single race win. There are expected to be notable differences between last year’s iteration and their new W14 car but it remains to be seen how big of an improvement the performance will be.
Leclerc, who finished second behind reigning champion Max Verstappen said “As much as we are motivated to win, we know how difficult it will be. Mercedes will also be there too after having a very strong end to the season last year so it’s going to be a difficult championship. Lewis will never be out of the question for a championship fight. I’m pretty sure if he has the car he will be there. We must not forget what he’s achieved in the sport and he still has it, we saw that many times last year. Lewis will be there, like Red Bull will be too and I hope it’s going to be a great fight.”
Highlighting his 2023 ambitions, Leclerc said “The goal is to win, clearly. I am really looking forward to getting back in the car and trying to win that championship. Last year was a good step forward. We need to do just the same this year and hopefully get that championship. That is the target for the team and for me, too – get more wins, hopefully be more consistent from the first race to the last race. So far it is intense. You can feel the responsibility. But the most important is to be successful – we have to deliver.
The most important thing is to win and the challenge is in front of us. When you are at Ferrari coming from 2022, you can’t have another objective than to win. I don’t want to say it will be easy because Red Bull and Mercedes will have the same target and only one team and driver will win. But we need to have this kind of target. We need to bring the mindset to do a better job tomorrow than today and to be always trying to improve the system.”
New Ferrari team principal Fred Vasseur said “Last year, it was not a secret that it was not the best aspect of the season, but we did a good job at the factory and in terms of power we will be there. I think we are in a good place.” Assistant team principal Laurent Mekies added: “We have learned some of the things last year the hard way. We are concentrating on giving our people the best platform to express themselves.”
Speaking about the W14, Mercedes team principal Toto Wolff said “The DNA of the car is going to change, it’s clear. It doesn’t necessarily mean that the bodywork is going to look very different but certainly what is part of the DNA of the car with the architecture will change for next year.
Also read: Formula 1: Scuderia Ferrari launch 2023 challenger SF-23 at Maranello
