Ferrari, harsh attack by Arturo Merzario on Charles Leclerc

Charles Leclerc has been part of planet Ferrari since 2016, since he joined the Ferrari Driver Academy. After being third driver for Haas in four Circus race weekends in 2016 and for Sauber in 2017, also on four occasions, he made his Formula 1 debut in 2018 behind the wheel of the then Ferrari-powered Sauber. Since 2019, he has been an official driver for the Maranello team and has been an unquestionable pillar of the house of the Prancing Horse ever since, despite frequently voicing criticism for questionable strategies from the race wall.

Martino Davidi

Leclerc is also beloved by Ferrari fans, who are admired by his always generous and spectacular race conduct, but there&#8217s someone who has spoken out from this almost unanimous chorus, and this someone is Arturo Merzario. Interviewed by automoto.it the 82-year-old former driver, who was also a standard bearer for the Cavallino, both in Formula 1 and in the World Sport Championship in the early 1970s, certainly did not go easy on Charles: “Leclerc has come to occupy a place in Ferrari that he was not entitled to at the time.”

“He is a very good driver, as there are many. If you put names in a hat and you draw one, one is worth the other. He’s not special,” continued Merzario, who then placed a further lunge: “If Enzo Ferrari had been there, he wouldn’t have even walked through the gates of Maranello. I’m sure of that. He would not even have received him as a customer.” Very heavy words from a driver who was part of an era of Formula 1 that was overflowing with great drivers, the 1970s, and who owes much of his fame to the fact that he saved Niki Lauda from the fire of the Nurburgring crash on August 1, 1976.

Of the 171 Grands Prix in which he has started, Charles Leclerc has driven 150 with Ferrari, third all-time after Michael Schumacher (180) and Kimi Raikkonen (151), and has won eight (but none this year) while also totaling 27 pole positions and 11 fastest race laps. His best finish in the world rankings was second place in 2022.

Arturo Merzario in Formula 1 raced 57 Grands Prix between 1972 and 1979, and of these the first 11 he raced at the wheel of Ferrari between 1972 and 1973, grabbing two fourth places as his best results. With the Cavallino in Sport cars in 1972 he won the Targa Florio and the 1000 km of Spa, and in 1973 he was second at the 1000 km of Nurburgring and the 24 hours of Le Mans.