At times the second is not the first of the losers
Charles Leclerc breathes pure oxygen on the night of Abu Dhabi, conquering a second place in the drivers' championship with anger and strength that weighs like promise, worth, and newfound hope
The heightened emotionality of Charles Leclerc takes the form of heavy air, invisible yet vivid, easy to notice in its cumbersome presence. It hangs on his chest and runs through his large, sincere eyes, revealing with gestures, even before words, that the stake reached a higher level.
From Interlagos to Abu Dhabi, the weight of this presence came to bear, giving us back a Leclerc who, at the end of an emotional rollercoaster of a season, found something to fight for. Not the world championship, which he believed in until data, results and points forced him to stop. But a second place in the drivers' championship that is worth the weight of a successfully harvested seed, of a loud declaration: I matter, I am, I can.
Above me only Max Verstappen: he who is great, he who has a tremendous car with which he can do incredible things, he who is the opponent of all times, the only one worth really fighting against, the one with whom - we all hope - a real world fight will one day be ignited. But none among them. Not his team-mate Carlos Sainz, who amid rumours and barbs claims a leading role and is unwilling to accept the position of second driver at Ferrari. Not the two Mercedes, reborn in this second half of the season and a bulky presence in what will be the fight for the title in 2023. And especially not Sergio Perez, with a Red Bull on the edge of perfection but who, Charles knows, does not burn with the fire that dominates the life, and career, of his team-mate.
And so, on the Sunday of melancholy, Leclerc and Perez ignite a race that, by tradition and structure, leads to the boredom of already written endings. They chase each other, control each other, try to catch each other until the last lap. They fight each other as if there was a world title at stake and not a second place in the drivers' championship. They both want it, they both deserve it in their own way, but only one of them can take it home. They are simply beautiful, mesmerising to watch in a downhill war while in front, the leader of the entire season, has already written his umpteenth victory.
Charles shouts over the radio, gets angry with his engineer who talks to him all the time and silences him with a Raikkonian sentence: “Leave me alone, I know what I'm doing”. The visor lowered, the weight on his chest of an emotionality we have come to know, the light smile we hadn't seen on him since mid-2022.
Leclerc wins his battle, takes a second place that looks like an illusion, a new-found hope, a promise of a greater future for his red car. Enzo Ferrari used to say “the second is the first of the losers” but it is not always true, motorsport taught us that. Because the roll of honour only remembers the greatest, the number one on the grid, but the men remember the emotions, the drivers and teams, the battles fought. So, in a second half of the season to forget, Leclerc gives his Ferrari a day of true joy, a demonstration of talent and intelligence in the form of a small miracle. The best way to go on holiday feeling lighter, to have faith in 2023, to find in each other a hope for the future that seemed eroded.
The second doesn't win, the second doesn't make history. That is true. But from that second place one must pass, and from the anger and stubbornness of wanting success one can see the stigmata of the champion. The hallmark of someone who, in his battle as first of the losers, would have managed to make even Enzo Ferrari smile.
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