Picture from Sauber F1

F1 News

Leclerc discusses his step up to F1

5 August at 08:57
  • Matt Gretton
  • Editor-in-Chief

Charles Leclerc has unexpectedly impressed the F1 world so far this season. The young driver from Monaco has managed to pick up plenty of points and gets into Q3 on a regular basis.

In his latest interview with RaceFans, he discusses how different he found the F1 world to previous formula's.

“When you start in Formula Renault until Formula Two the car is completely fixed in terms of development. So you only really have to do the set-ups, and the set-up more come from the year before.

“So you just arrive on the track, you take the car they give you, and then you work on the set-up," Leclerc said.

The Sauber driver struggled to adjust. And that was evident in his first three Grands Prix results. At this time in the season, he was actually outscored by his team-mate. It all started when he got to Baku and bagged eight points surprising the F1 paddock.

“I struggled in the first three races, there was a lot of new things to me. But I probably did not expect things to go well as quickly. From Baku onwards, we really did a big step up, and we kept that performance. That very sudden step, probably I did not expect," added Leclerc.

Many people have been tipping him to replace Kimi Raikkonen at Ferrari. It's perhaps too early to promote him at the moment, but Sauber team principal Frederic Vasseur identifies all of the ingredients.

"He has to improve. He has a very good learning curve. He’s ramping up. I’m very happy and very proud of the job done but he’s not world champion [yet].”