#and with a higher risk race not damaging the car further was a greater priority at that point

[charles-leclerc-official]

It's insane to me that Charles somewhat has this reputation of "conceding" to others, especially Max. I saw a few comments the other day about how it's important for a driver to have a mentality of fighting others even in an inferior car, saying that Charles gives up too easily when it comes to Max, that when he gets pole he butches his race starts and lets Max past.

???

It's also insane to say this about Charles of all people- that he has a mentality of yielding- because he's also been criticized for overdriving, taking "unnecessary risks" in qualifying and thus putting a car in places where it doesn't quite belong.

I think of Vegas last year when Charles grabbed pole, well no one thought he could go beyond P3 in the race, really. But he saved up his battery in those last laps and pulled a perfect last lap overtake, clinching P2.

In an ideal world there would be no repercussions to not choosing your battles in F1 but this isn't an ideal world, is it.

And as for the criticism of Charles' approach to qualifying, I might not agree but I understand the perspective and where they're coming from. But the other criticisms as to why he's not a potential world champion being that oh he has the talent but he yields in the race when his car isn't fast enough, or he is incapable of choosing his own strategy and taking charge unlike sainz who pushes back- These are what kinda sets me off haha.

I feel like this is due to a lot of people trying to compare things that don't make good direct comparisons.

Lando had a few quotes earlier this year about fighting Max, and he was criticized for it, but I do think he basically was saying the same thing about picking your battles, and yes that's the whole point of the sport.

But I think this just comes down to people who don't really want to dig into context or logic. I get wanting to see a driver go 110% all the time, but that's not how it works. A smart driver knows when they can push and when they cannot. That's part that comes with experience and good instincts.

I don't think I have seen a time where Charles should have pushed and instead held back. When it's possible I trust him to go for it.

And 2023 is really hard because of the dominance of the RB-20. Charles took pole against all odds multiple times, and yes he lost it pretty quickly to the RB-20, it wasn't really a failure on his part because the car really shouldn't have been there in the first place.

But the media and fans like to set narratives about how certain drivers are on track, and often they don't align with reality.

Also insane to say he yielded when I don't think Charles has yielded at all this year, even when his brakes were almost on fire.