Leclerc not planning more assertive approach on strategy

Ferrari driver Charles Leclerc says he has no plans to be more assertive when it comes to the team's strategy calls during Grand Prix races in 2023 despite a string of miscues derailing the team's campaign last year.

The Ferrari pit wall was blamed for a number of mistakes last season that derailed their championship bid and allowed Red Bull's Max Verstappen to open up a dominant lead in the points.

Verstappen had been playing an increasingly large roll in decision making from the cockpit, just as Lewis Hamilton does at Mercedes. Even George Russell has been heard to call strategy and talk tactics from the cockpit.

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But this week, Leclerc told the official Formula 1 Beyond The Grid podcast that this wasn't the way he liked to do things, and he didn't plan to start criticising the team strategists any time soon.

"In terms of being more vocal once I'm in the car and taking more in hand the decision, I don't think this is the way forward," he said.

"We won't win a world championship if I am making the decisions on my own in the car, this is not how it works.

"People don't understand how little information we have in the car about the whole situation during a race," he explained.

And just as he won't contradict the call from the pit wall during the race, he will also refrain from publicly commenting on team tactics after the event as well - even when things go awry.

"I won't be more vocal outside the car because I don't care what people really think," he argued. "I am really vocal within the team of what I want, and this I think is the right approach.

"This I won't change," he stated. "What I care [about] is that I'm feeling good with myself, doing the absolute best within the team to improve things, and this is my main focus."

"I strongly believe that if we get better as a team," he added. "And when I say as a team, it's everybody involved.

"Speaking about strategy, looking at the strategy - this is when we will be the best all together, that's where we will win the World Championship," he insisted. "On that I'm convinced, so I'll keep this approach."

Although he won last year's season opener in Bahrain, this year's race ended in disappointment when his Ferrari SF-23 suffered a power unit failure on lap 40 forcing him to retire from the third place in the race.

His team mate Carlos Sainz missed the podium after losing a dramatic battle with Aston Martin's Fernando Alonso on lap 45.

The dominance of Verstappen and Sergio Perez last Sunday means Red Bull have a maximum 43 points from the first race of the season, putting them 20 points ahead of Aston Martin.

Ferrari are even four points behind the Mercedes team, despite a troubled weekend for the Silver Arrows. It's certainly not the start that the Ferrari management wanted as it seeks to mount a real bid for the 2023 title.

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