Charles Leclerc expects he will benefit in 2020 from not changing teams between seasons for the first time in his career.
The 22-year-old is starting his second season at Ferrari. It is the first time since he graduated to single-seaters six years ago that he has remained at the same team from one year to the next.“It’s been a very long time since the last time I was two years in a row in the same team,” said Leclerc, who hopes that stability will pay off and allow him to help the team tackle the problems they experienced last year.
“I’ve made it clear what I want from the car,” he said. “But the job of the team and the goal of everyone is the same at the end: To try to do the most solid car with the most flexibility in terms of set-up to help in both directions.
“Because it’s not the same issue that we have in every track. We need to be adapting the car to every track and this is a goal for both drivers. And then when they are small balance issues which can happen then it’s up to us to adapt to the car too.”
“I think there were a few mistakes last year,” he said. “Probably the biggest one, like in Baku to crash in Q2, was just very unnecessary and I think I’ve learned the lesson.
“Overall during the year I think I’ve learned many smaller lessons, probably, but very useful ones on the strategy and the races. It’s quite a lot more complex in Formula 1. And on this I’ve still got a lot of improvements to make and I’m working with the team on that, so I’m pretty sure there’s room for improvement everywhere.
“If I have to choose one thing at the moment it is probably on my side to try and have a better vision of the race. I’m pretty sure this will be useful for the future.”
[smr2020test]After winning two races last year, Leclerc was handed a long-term contract extension with Ferrari.
“Obviously it’s great to be knowing that I’ll be driving for Ferrari for five more years,” he said. “This is great, obviously it gives me confidence.
“This doesn’t mean the races don’t count so we’ll have to be working very hard. I don’t think it gives us any certainty on the results but one thing’s for sure is that it’s a long term project and I think it’s interesting for both myself and the team to be working in such a long contract and to build a strong relationship which hopefully will bring many successes.”
Leclerc’s single-seater career so far
| Year | Championship | Team |
|---|---|---|
| 2014 | Formula Renault 2.0 Eurocup & ALPS | Fortec |
| 2015 | Formula Three | Van Amersfoort |
| 2016 | GP3 | ART |
| 2017 | Formula 2 | Prema |
| 2018 | Formula 1 | Sauber |
| 2019 | Formula 1 | Ferrari |
| 2020 | Formula 1 | Ferrari |
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2020 F1 season
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Balue (@balue)
15th February 2020, 9:15
I would bet it’s opposite. Now that he’s not the newcomer with nothing to lose anymore, and is expected to deliver without excuses, the pressure will be higher and it could easily affect his performance.
Robbie (@robbie)
15th February 2020, 15:15
@balue Agreed and I think the concept of which you speak is real. I know I will be watching for this. CL, in a way, could not lose last year. Be bested by SV and nobody is really surprised. But beat him and it’s gravy. Now CL will ‘have to’ confirm the season he had last year, whereas last year he didn’t really have to confirm anything other than that he was learning and progressing. The way I have heard it worded in the past is that in a driver’s first year (CL at Ferrari last year) there are things he could not have known to think about until he got to those points, things that would not have played on his mind as he hadn’t experienced them before, but now with a season under his belt, everything will be playing on his mind, good, bad, or indifferent.
Let’s see how the different kind and degree of pressure for this season plays on CL. Not saying he won’t do it…just that CL continues to be in uncharted territory being in his second year at Ferrari and only his third in F1. Gonna be fascinating to see what he can do. A big part of the story of F1 2020.
Joseph (@bigjoe)
15th February 2020, 23:07
@balue
What are you on about. LEC drove better in his 2nd, than Lewis did in his when he scraped a title battle with Massa.
Leclerc is the real deal. Lewis couldn’t touch him at times, then who was it who made ‘the excuses’ ?
RB13
16th February 2020, 14:08
@bigjoe why are you making things up? Lewis didnt stuff it in races or QUALIFYING 2008 as Leclerc did last year. Sore obsessed loser you are.
erikje
15th February 2020, 11:19
Baku was indeed foolish, but it can happen.
Monaco and Germany stand out as driver errors during the race itself.
Lots to learn, but a talent without a doubt.
Only Facts!
15th February 2020, 11:47
I would like them to drop the still learning argument for good.
Those guys come from 10 years or longer careers in motor racing. They already made all mistakes possible.
I guess Albon is the only one that can really pull that argument.
It would be a better choice of words talking about maturity, controlling the instincts, patience, turning attack mode on and off. Those are common features among WDC.
Vettel an exception…
bosyber (@bosyber)
15th February 2020, 13:31
Well, Hamilton also says he keeps learning to improve, Adress weaknesses that he found in previous seasons, so I think we can forgive Leclerc, right?
Only Facts!
15th February 2020, 14:04
@bosyber Forgiven already.
I am trying to remember if I’ve ever seen an interview in which Schumacher, Senna, Piquet, Mansell, Lauda are saying similar things.
I guess this humble approach I have a lot to improve as a driver and as a personis the new I’m going to do my best to beat them all.
anon
16th February 2020, 14:08
In that respect, Hamilton’s attitude, and that of Leclerc, would be closer to that of Fangio, given that Fangio is often ascribed as saying “You must always strive to be the best, but you must never believe that you are.” – indeed, it sounds more like the attitude that the generations of drivers prior to those you list tended to take, where they tended to be more likely to take the “I have a lot to improve as a driver” attitude.
GtisBetter (@)
15th February 2020, 23:00
Maybe you should tell us how you did it when you went to drive for one of the top F1 teams? Joking aside, you learn the basics before F1, but there is so much more in F1, you need at least 3 years. And then you have to learn the car each year again. And this year they need to learn new circuits. Never done learning!
dan
15th February 2020, 16:33
Vettel will be the Massa to leclerc like Massa was to Alonso, this will be a bloodbath. @Robbie I wonder weather you will agree, you was wrong before the season like me and many others in saying Vettel would be in big trouble. It would be like Max beating Lewis in first year as teammates and thinking the same trend would not happen. You do not suddenly get worst when you come in as a pehonom. Look at Lewis in 07 look at Max vs Ricciardo from day one on the pace you know the good guys.
Trust me Vettel would have been driving as hard as he ever could to try and beat the new kid and he still could not do it. It was embarassing for a 4X WC known for his qually speed to be beaten 8 times in row in qualifying that was so bad. Vet in the races was good and had good moments, look for Lec to get on top there too. The facts remain a Ferrari driver took the most pole positions on the grid won twice. Vet won the race not on speed in the pits, people really miss a trick judging Vet carear i was saying this when Vet was on 4 titles and Ham and Alo on one and two titles. His titles never meant he was better to me. Only his fans who had a nice dose of karma seeing Vet unravel which was long overdue thought that.
Robbie (@robbie)
15th February 2020, 23:33
dan It won’t be a bloodbath. They’re going to take it a race at a time. Let’s see where the Ferrari cars are amongst the grid. The Mercedes, the Red Bulls. Let’s see where CL and SV qualify relative to each other and to the grid, and see how each race plays out as the season goes along, and I’m sure Ferrari will do what they think is best as need be. But for starters the drivers have the go ahead to race on the track. Much will be determined as each race goes along and the results and their actions are absorbed. It’s not a given that CL is going to dominate SV. But I think it is a given that SV will not be designated to be Leclerc’s Massa. Even if CL heads SV, they’ll continue to race it out in track. They’re not going to treat a 4 time WDC that way.
anon
16th February 2020, 14:21
dan, strictly speaking, the figure you are using does include two races – the Austrian and German Grand Prix – where Leclerc outqualified Vettel by default given that Vettel could not contest either part, or all, of the qualifying session due to mechanical problems.
Joseph (@bigjoe)
15th February 2020, 23:04
People already forget how good Leclerc was without Ferrari’s mess ups and Vettel receiving favours.
LEC drove a better season than Hamilton did in his 2nd season despite scraping the championship that year.
I think it was autoposrt who did the analysis. Let’s face it, Leclerc is unlikely to drive a worse 3rd season than Lewis’s 3rd.
erikje
16th February 2020, 11:08
Lec is still very error prone and makes to many mistakes.
His attitude will change over time but he still needs to grow. Putting pressure on him will tell the if the talent persist.
NewVerstappenFan (@jureo)
17th February 2020, 11:14
:D Wait Leclerc drove a better season than Hamilton? Err… em..
As a big Ferrari fan, and admirer of Leclerc I cannot accept this notion. Hamilton was excellent.
What Leclerc showed was, that he has more innate speed and adaptability than Vettel.
He also showed killer instinct, sturdiness under pressure.
Meanwhile Hamilton made it look easy, in calm and methodical fashion, destroyed the opposition.
Leclerc is like a rough diamond, but he is no Hamilton. Maybe he is even faster? But certainly not polished.
Esploratore (@esploratore)
17th February 2020, 18:15
He is comparing that season to hamilton’s 2nd season, 2008, which was far from excellent.