The Verstappen path Leclerc seems to be following in F1 2022

“I never particularly struggle with pressure.” Charles Leclerc said that ahead of FP1 in Australia last weekend and it was clear throughout the rest of the event, which he utterly dominated.

There was the 0.286s gap to Max Verstappen – Max Verstappen – in qualifying. That secured pole, from which Leclerc led every lap of the race to score his fourth Formula 1 career victory, with the race’s fastest lap too, an accolade he wrapped up on the last lap even while going off-line lapping two backmarkers.

The result of the Melbourne race – with Verstappen and Carlos Sainz Jr retiring – leaves Leclerc in a commanding championship position after three races. Yes, that’s still a very small chunk of the season, but in 2021 the biggest gap between Verstappen and Lewis Hamilton was only ever 32. Leclerc is 34 to the good over George Russell, executing perfect damage limitation for Mercedes so far this season.

PLUS: How decisions Ferrari aced and Red Bull regretted led to Leclerc’s Melbourne masterclass

Back on Friday, Leclerc had offered another intriguing line. It was that he rejected suggestions his strong start to 2022 with Bahrain victory and a close second in Jeddah represented a step up in performance compared to 2021. Or that he now must be considered “Charles 2.0”.

“I've seen it everywhere and I don't like to see it,” he explained. “This is not the case. Yeah, I've had a growth from year-to-year. [But] that is linear.”

The ‘Charles 2.0’ tag comes from inside Ferrari – comments team ambassador and long-time test driver, Marc Gene, made after the Bahrain 1-2. It’s understandable why Leclerc would dismiss such a tag – it’s overused and tired. Especially so in F1 terms, now Valtteri Bottas’s various false dawns and reiterations at Mercedes played out without a world title.

Leclerc was never headed in Melbourne after hitting the front at the start

Photo by: Ferrari

But the cliche has taken away from Gene’s true observation – that Leclerc seems somehow different in 2022. And Leclerc himself actually confirmed this after his Albert Park win.

“I've been in this situation [challenging for titles] in the junior categories, but then to be in this situation in Formula 1 means a lot,” he said alongside Sergio Perez and George Russell in the post-race press conference. “And especially after the last few years, and especially with a team like Ferrari. It feels incredible.

“Obviously, the mindset is a bit different compared to the last two years because now I know that underneath me I've got a car that is capable of winning and I don't really have to overdo things or to do something extremely special and spectacular to get one or two positions. Because I know that it's in the car and I just have to do the job.”

PLUS: Australian Grand Prix Driver Ratings 2022

So, Leclerc’s key change for this year stems from a much more important one at Ferrari overall: that it has produced a title-challenging car. There can be no doubt about it now, the F1-75 is a genuine frontrunner.

We can look back on Leclerc's mistakes in 2019, 2020 and 2021 in a new context – he knew he had to take massive risks to get in the hunt. Now he’s expected to lead the way and is delivering. Just like Verstappen did a year ago

The sculpted, svelte dark scarlet machine has been in the hunt for race victory on three different track types in Bahrain, Jeddah and Melbourne. The first and third of those also offered very different tyre challenges – to avoid overheating them on an abrasive surface in Bahrain and to keep the warm and stay there in Australia. That said, it does make them outlier events compared to the rest of the calendar to come.

But Ferrari was the only team to run without degradation problems last Sunday, on either race compound. Contrast that with Leclerc’s stunning capitulation with badly grained front tyres at last year’s French GP. Yes, that was with a car built to a different formula and tyre type, but the art of F1 tyre mastery is one that continues to vex other squads, while Ferrari’s progress is clear.

With the lead of both championships leaving Melbourne, Ferrari must be considered the favourite going forwards.

Red Bull is still a major threat. The RB18 is a very fast car. Verstappen was close to matching Leclerc for ultimate pace during last Sunday’s race – evident during their fastest lap exchange shortly before the Dutchman’s retirement – but couldn’t stay at that level without destroying his tyres.

Leclerc was 0.286s faster than Verstappen in Australian GP qualifying, underlining Ferrari's title favourite credentials

Photo by: Ferrari

The engine reliability problem Red Bull faces is the bigger danger to its title hopes. A 50% finish rate is pretty shocking for a championship-challenging team, especially considering engine development is now frozen and so even under force majeure dispensation putting that right won’t be straightforward – assuming the team needs to go that far.

So, Red Bull’s biggest concern isn’t its car’s aerodynamic concept, nor its star driver. But Verstappen’s career journey is an important consideration when we assess what Leclerc is doing right now.

Once he’d got used to his surroundings at a crack F1 squad following his shock promotion from Toro Rosso early in 2016, Verstappen’s first go at mounting a title challenge went awry. That was 2018, when Red Bull, Ferrari and Mercedes were closely matched before the latter two pulled clear. Four years ago, Verstappen produced a run of mistakes, which cost him high-profile results, particularly in Monaco.

Red Bull wasn’t clear of the rest – the drivers had to make the difference and Verstappen over did it. He calmed down, not that he’d ever admit it, and got massively better. But that impetuousness to score a major result in a car that wasn’t the class of field was still just under the surface as time passed. It emerged when he spun attacking future team-mate Sergio Perez in the wet 2020 Turkish GP.

But Verstappen did have a world-beating car in 2021. And he didn’t miss his shot. Sure, there were minor errors, but he contained these to the early season and built from there.

In 2022, Leclerc seems to be following the same path. And so, we can look back on his mistakes in 2019, 2020 and 2021 in a new context – he knew he had to take massive risks to get in the hunt. Now he’s expected to lead the way and is delivering. Just like Verstappen did a year ago.

Right now, it’s hard to imagine Leclerc stuffing his F1-75 in the Baku barriers, or clouting Perez at a start as in the 2020 Sakhir GP, or whacking the wall on home turf in Monaco, desperate to clinch his one shot at a glittering result over a whole season.

Previous Leclerc mistakes were the result of having to make the difference in sub-par machinery, a problem he doesn't face in 2022

Photo by: Jean Petin / Motorsport Images

Leclerc repeating those errors seems unlikely because of how well he’s driving so far in 2022. He’s been calm in battle against F1’s most ferocious wheel-to-wheel driver and worked with Ferrari to find a tyre wear sweetspot others can’t match. It’s championship-winning stuff, although of course it is indeed very early in the campaign.

At his first real title chance Leclerc isn’t letting himself down. Nor, so far in life at Mercedes, is Russell – another star that some bizarrely questioned even as he racked up stunning achievements in inferior machinery

We must add caveats because every time we note Leclerc’s abilities it results in snarky feedback. Because for some reason suggesting a rookie GP3 and Formula 2 champion, who ended Sebastian Vettel’s Ferrari era, might be the real deal gets some inexplicably hot under the collar.

But at his first real title chance Leclerc isn’t letting himself down. Nor, so far in life at Mercedes, is Russell – another star that some bizarrely questioned even as he racked up stunning achievements in inferior machinery.

This might be as right as I’ll ever be on Charles Leclerc, who, it must be said, may never win another F1 race ever again – because there are so many possibilities in life. But the path Verstappen trod only leads to one destination, if he can indeed follow it all the way to the world championship.

Leclerc is making full use of his first chance at an F1 title tilt and currently leads Russell by 34 points

Photo by: Steve Etherington / Motorsport Images