Honestly, at this point Charles will have no one but himself to blame if he never wins a title because he chose Ferrari over everything.
In 2022 I felt genuinely bad for him, still in 2023 as well but the more the years go on the more I come to realize I can’t blame Ferrari for his lack of success (he has 8 wins after 8 years and only one semi-run at a wdc) when he continuously chooses to stay there. He knows what Ferrari are like, no one is forcing his hand.
Heck, with all the unrest about Max and everyone waiting for him to make a decision this season you can’t even argue there’s nowhere for him to go because if he waited a little everything might be wide open.
Charles has a lot of potential. I do think he’s a better driver than Lando or George. And he absolutely could be world champion. But at some point arguing potential over the facts on the score sheet doesn’t work anymore (cough people trying to put him on Max’s level cough).
History won’t remember who “could’ve won if only he had the car”. At least not if it’s not a Max 2025 type of season.
You either deliver, or you don’t. No excuses.
He’s exactly where he wants to be.
And everything that goes along with that goes along with it. And we have to assume he’s fine with that.
I don’t even think it’s about blaming Ferrari. He could be champion in the right car but these things don’t happen in a vacuum. Sure they’re an unserious operation in many ways but so were McLaren last year and through one part of their organisation being good and everyone else’s incompetence they finessed it. If Ferrari built a car that good, the strategy wouldn’t even matter. So it’s not just a case of Ferrari sucking.
But yeah at the same time Charles is where he is and I think that’s probably the right choice for him. But the fans need to let go of this notion that he’s a victim of Ferrari. He IS Ferrari as much as Ferrari is Ferrari. You can’t save a damsel if she loves her distress.