Charles Leclerc reveals who he is betting $1 on to win F1 title in ‘lot to lose’ assessment

Charles Leclerc said he is hoping to capitalise on the “lot to lose” attitude that the top three may adopt in their close title fight.

While the McLaren duo and Max Verstappen continue their title showdown, Leclerc became the latest driver to be mathematically eliminated from the running but hopes to use that freedom to his advantage.

Charles Leclerc hoping to use F1 title fight to his advantage

The Ferrari man is in a bit of a no man’s land in the standings, with George Russell 60 points ahead and Lewis Hamilton 50 points back, but a podium in Austin suggested the Monegasque could be in for a successful end of the season.

One advantage that Leclerc does have on his side is the ability to be more risky than the likes of Oscar Piastri, Lando Norris and Verstappen, given that none of the title runners can afford a DNF. Ahead of this weekend’s race in Mexico City, Leclerc said that was a tactic he would look to exploit in the final races of the season.

“I think the context is always important when you’re fighting someone,” he told PlanetF1.com and other media. “You are aware that in my case, there’s not much to lose. In their cases, there’s a lot to lose.

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“So that gives a little bit of an advantage, but for us to use this advantage, I need to be on their pace and at the moment, it doesn’t seem that we are on the pace of McLaren or Red Bull.

“But if we are, especially at the start [of the race], these three drivers will be a bit more cautious with me than they will be between them so that’s a good thing to know.”

Much of the talk going into the Mexican weekend has been on Verstappen’s title charge which has seen him reduce the gap to 40 points. Asked about his verdict, Leclerc said if he had to bet, he would still go with one of the McLaren drivers.

“I’m never surprised, I think Max is always driving at a very high level,” he said. “And considering Red Bull is probably the team that have pushed the developments more than other teams.

“I think McLaren has stopped quite a while ago, we also stopped quite a while ago. Mercedes and Red Bull are the two teams that pushed for a bit longer so it’s not a complete surprise.

“I’ll be very surprised if he manages to win the championship from where he is. He is always on top of things and always performing extremely well, but it’s still 40 points and 40 points is significant.

“So if I had to bet $1, I probably would bet on the McLaren drivers but you can never rule out Max really.

“Which one [of the McLaren drivers] that’s a difficult one. I mean, Oscar has been very, very strong this season and has been very solid.

“If you look at the last two, three races, it seems that Lando is coming back to a very, very strong form. So it’s going to be close.”

Additional reporting by Elizabeth Blackstock

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