Agree'd. Max seems utterly focused and I think Jos is taking some of the pressure off. I dont expect them to be affected technically yet. Maybe if there is a major change as in Newey leaving. If Horner is released overall he wont be missed if the major managers below him are not affected or have not left. The drama of all this is crazy but we lack any significant racing overall to begin with.
https://www.planetf1.com/news/charles-leclerc-defiant-stance-lewis-hamilton-week-continues-maranello Charles Leclerc declares he’s ‘ready’ to win a title It will mark the first time the seven-time World Champion, whose F1 results include 105 Grand Prix wins, is in the same machinery as Leclerc. It will be, effectively, their first head-to-head comparison. But while it won’t have any bearing on Ferrari’s F1 2025 plans, Leclerc has made it clear that if a Ferrari driver is going to fight Red Bull and Max Verstappen for the World title, it is going to be him. I feel like I’m ready for the championship,” he told RacingNews365. “We [Ferrari] just need a car that, throughout the season, is capable of doing that. “I’m fully confident that the next team to be able to do that and to beat Red Bull, especially, for the championship will be us.” Although Leclerc did offer a challenge in the first half of 2022, too many mistakes from both Ferrari and the driver cost him and he had to settle for runner-up. He, however, believes in the last two years he has matured and improved as a driver. “I did [improve],” said the 27-year-old. “I improved in the way that I accept more when a weekend is not going exactly the way I want. “Whereas in the past, if things were not going exactly the way I want, if the car was not exactly the way I wanted, I was trying to find something within the car that was not there, and that was pushing me to do mistakes. “That was pushing me also sometimes to do something really good when things were not there, but I felt like it was biting [me] more than it will reward me – and on that, I improved a lot. “I felt like I maximised points a lot more over the course of the season, but that doesn’t mean that I will never cross that line again. “It’s always a game of trying to get as close as possible to limit without ever stepping on it, but I feel like I’ve done a step forward on that, yes.”
--I feel like I’m ready for the championship,” he told RacingNews365. “We [Ferrari] just need a car that, throughout the season, is capable of doing that.-- Lets see if that 'car' shows up. They have an almost complete re-design.....................
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I really hope he’s right, but this reads a bit like McLaren era Coulthard. Every year there was a story with him saying he was more ready than last year and this would be his year.
Bingo. Scoring points and wins is one thing. Having the mind and nerves to make it through a WDC season is another. Lewis has a 7 times advantage in that. French GP comes to my mind.
True, but Lewis comes or came from a "well-oiled machine" (car, strategy calls, pit crew)...at least more so than Ferrari. IF Ferrari keeps their uneventful ways, then Ferrari will get into his head after several years and the frustration will grow. Sainz handled it way better than Leclerc even though both were frustrated at times.
Why do some drivers have to make silly forecast like this one ? I can't belive they are that stupid. Maybe they are goaded by journos in search of a new story ?
