The first driver to suffer a DNF, DNS, and DSQ since 2011 in a single season. The first driver to not win a race after securing a pole position on 12 successive occasions. These are the stats that pertain to Charles Leclerc. What has happened to the driver who was Ferrari’s hope for a championship? Well, an ex-Ferrari manager has an answer.

Leclerc’s 2023 was worse than his heartbreaking 2022 season and now the 26-year-old is at the peak of his powers with woeful records to his name. Ferrari is often accused of wasting Leclerc’s talents, but what is the reason behind it? Who is to be blamed? What needs to be changed? Spanish engineer and ex-Ferrari man Joan Villadelprat has an answer.

Joan Villadelprat reveals his opinion on the woeful output from the Italian team which is wasting the talents of Charles Leclerc

According to the Spanish engineer, who saw a certain seven-time world champion win his first two at Benetton, the reason behind Ferrari and Leclerc’s misery is impatience. In this age of quick gratification, everyone is chasing instant results, but Formula 1 has never been that kind of sport. There is groundwork that needs to be laid down before a team starts seeing results and Ferrari has been too impatient in recent times to let any hard work come to fruition.

Their firing of Mattia Binotto was an example of that because they undid all the groundwork. The Italian put in and lost all the engineers who worked with him, making Frederic Vasseur almost start from scratch. Villadelprat expressed in his conversation with AS, that this is exactly the kind of attitude that needs to change.

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Villadelprat replied, “First of all because they have no patience. When things don’t work the tendency is to change everything quickly, there is no time for projects to settle. I was a fan of Mattia Binotto, the former team boss. It was a mistake to change him for Vasseur because Binotto had managed to create stability and they were growing. By changing the boss and several of his trusted men, who also left, it’s time to start over. Ferrari has a tendency to rebuild every two years.”

The 68-year-old backed his claim with an example. He added, “The example that patience is necessary was the arrival of Jean Todt, who seemed like a blessed god, in 1993. He had a spectacular team of engineers at his side, none of them moved on Schumacher’s orders, and even so it took five years to be champions It is Ferrari’s big problem. They panic immediately and are not able to maintain a bet over time.”

Ferrari Reveals Inside Details on Why and How Charles Leclerc Crashed at Brazilian GP

This is the first time Ferrari has been criticized for their poor management and for wasting Leclerc’s talents. However, despite that, the near future looks bleak for the Italian team and Ralf Schumacher predicted it perfectly for 2023.

Ralf Schumacher makes a perfect prediction for Ferrari’s 2023 season

Ahead of the 2023 season, Ferrari made bold claims about their championship chances and their challenger’s abilities. However, the reality was far from expectations, and the Italian team was given a harsh reality check during the pre-season testing. Soon after the pre-season testing, Sky pundit Ralf Schumacher made a spot-on prediction about Ferrari’s and Leclerc’s chances in 2023.

He said, “I don’t think so. I think it will take too long [to close the gap] and that Red Bull will time is already out of the picture unless, of course, there is technical bad luck. I would like it, but I fear that this will be a relatively boring season. It will revolve around two fighting team-mates.”

WATCH THIS STORY: How Long Will Charles Leclerc Wait for Ferrari – Will He Leave for Some Other team Post-2024? 

That is exactly what we saw in 2023 as Ferrari managed a solitary win in the entire season and not because of Leclerc. If this scenario continues, should the Monegasque think about jumping ship?