Leclerc reveals "re-zero" process to get through mentally difficult year

Ian Parkes
Sunday 6 November 2022 10:30

Charles Leclerc has conceded a need to "re-zero" this season prior to grands prix after watching his F1 title hopes slip through his grasp.

Over the first few races of the campaign, it appeared as if Leclerc was firmly in the frame for a shot at his maiden championship only to fall away as team mistakes, unreliability and the odd personal error have contributed to his downfall.

They allowed Max Verstappen to romp to his second championship, leaving Leclerc in a fight for the runner-up spot with the Dutchman's Red Bull team-mate Sergio Perez, who has edged five points clear of the Monégasque.

Given the heartbreaks he has suffered this year, asked how he had mentally made it through the year, Leclerc said: "It is part of seasons in general.

"There are always ups and downs, probably more this year than other years. The middle part of the season was especially very difficult.

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“But mentally, I have always managed to re-zero before every race and come to a race with a normal mindset, having forgotten what has happened in the previous races.”

After starting the season with two wins in the opening three races, Leclerc has won just once in the 17 grands prix since, in Austria prior to the summer break.

Leclerc enjoyedExpla a run of five consecutive podiums from the Dutch through to the United States Grand Prix which came to an abrupt end in Mexico as Ferrari languished far off the pace of both Red Bull and Mercedes.

Explaining how he avoids that 'not again' feeling, Leclerc added: "We always go through the same process whenever there is a mistake or something going wrong.

"You always try to analyse where that is coming from and once you understand where it is coming from, you try to look forward.

“This is what we have done this year and that will continue to be the rule.”