Charles Leclerc rates 2020 as his best season in Formula 1 despite the lacklustre performance of Ferrari.
Last year, the Monegasque claimed two wins and seven poles en route to fourth in the Drivers’ Championship, in contrast, Leclerc only scored two podiums and slumped to eighth in this year’s standings.
But given the relative competitiveness of the cars he was driving, Leclerc believes those two top-three results in Austria and Silverstone, plus other strong races, were actually more of an achievement.
“Just looking back, I think it’s not been an easy season, but I think that on many occasions we exceeded our expectations,” he told Formula1.com in Abu Dhabi.
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“At the beginning, we were expecting a much better season, we arrived at the first race and it was a difficult reality we were facing as we were in a lot more difficulty compared to where we wanted to be.
“But after that, I think we did a good job by accepting the situation and in some occasions, exceeding our expectations with some podiums during the year. So that’s what I will remember from this year.”
This year also saw Leclerc very much assume the role of lead driver at Ferrari after it was announced Sebastian Vettel would be leaving.
And but for a few notable mistakes, the 23-year-old doesn’t think he could have done much more.
“I think it is my best season in Formula 1,” he stated. “I think what I have shown on track, I am very happy with my season. It has not been easy but personally, I feel I have given my best.
“I have taken risks that most of the time went positively and made us gain a lot of points. On a few occasions, it didn’t happen the way I wanted and we have lost a few points but I think as a whole, this season has been very positive for my performance.
“I am very happy and am looking forward to next year to see how much of a gain we will have.”
Indeed, with the chance to finally update their underpowered engine and fix some of the bigger aerodynamic issues, it is predicted Ferrari will at least be battling for third in the Constructors’ Championship in 2021.
And Leclerc also believes this year’s struggles will help the Scuderia bounce back stronger.
“Sure, I think it has made me, made us grow so much during this year,” he said.
“And during tough times you always learn more, it’s not only something that people say, it’s actually happening, and we can feel it inside the team that we’ve learnt so much through the difficult moments.
“Now it’s up to us to put all of that into action and to actually prove that we’ve learnt a lot in the years to come.
“But it’s not going to be a miracle from one year to another, I expect a quite good step in the right direction for next year and then hopefully in 2022 it will be the time to show everything we’ve learnt.”