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“They F**Ked Up..”: Red Bull Boss Went Candid on Charles Leclerc’s Misery

Published 02/25/2023, 3:00 PM EST

2022 was a year that Charles Leclerc would most likely want to forget. His season started off in the best way possible, however, as the races went by, his and Ferrari‘s title challenge fell pale in front of Red Bull and Max Verstappen. Imola onwards, driver error and the Scuderia’s squalid strategy calls meant Leclerc scrambled for wins and points; as he could only gain a distant second in the Driver’s championship behind the Dutch lion. Thanks to Netflix’s Drive to Survive series, we can now get a peek into how Ferrari’s title charge crumbled from the inside and the exclusive paddock chatter about it all.

What must’ve hurt the Tifosi the most is the fact that they had a car and driver pairing that could break their title drought. Be that as it may, the team stumbled far too often. On their way down, they made a few decisions that left the fans and pundits scratching their heads, too. A prime example of this would be the 2022 British Grand Prix. Even though the Ferrari of Carlos Sainz won that day, clinching the Spaniard’s maiden F1 win; the way Leclerc was compromised on strategy by not being called in during the Safety Car left the paddock speechless.

This wasn’t lost on Red Bull boss Christian Horner. In episode three of the latest season of Drive to Survive, the Netflix crew eagerly lapped up the content surrounding the Scuderia’s Leclerc gaffe. We could see Horner talking post-race in the paddock. The intently listening crew picked Horner, saying, “They f**ked up Leclerc’s strategy, really. They should’ve boxed both of them,” on their microphones.

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Charles Leclerc can rest easy as Ferrari replaces contentious F1 strategy head

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Inaki Rueda, the man behind the strategy at Ferrari, has been a person who has taken a lot of flak over the years for his job at the team. Being the head of the strategy department means that if anything goes wrong, the buck stops with him. And it would appear that Ferrari’s trackside team runs his race.

Rueda has been replaced with Ravin Jain. According to Ferrari, “Jain, an Oxford physics graduate who joined the team in 2016, would be in charge of strategy at the track. Rueda remains part of the team; with a factory-based sporting role at Maranello.”

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Written by:

Anirban Aly Mandal is a Formula 1 Author at EssentiallySports. In his pursuit for a Bachelor's degree in Law from Symbiosis Law School, he has written multiple academic papers centered around the domain of motorsports. Not only that, but due to his love for F1, he aims to work as a legal advisor in the most prestigious racing series in the world some day.

Edited by:

Vineet Nandwana

“They F**Ked Up..”: Red Bull Boss Went Candid on Charles Leclerc’s Misery

Charles Leclerc can rest easy as Ferrari replaces contentious F1 strategy head

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