Charles Leclerc: “a first positive sensation”

Charles, how is she? Ferrari en 2021 ?

Oh this question that I've had 15 times and which I can't answer. It's very difficult to say because in these conditions you don't push the car to the max. But I had a first feeling in the car which was positive. The balance and driving comfort are quite good on long runs. We'll see when we push it into the qualifying rounds to judge it in these conditions.

Does the car have the same qualities as last year or did you start with something else and have to learn everything again?

This is an evolution from last year. In addition, we are limited on the things we could do this year with the regulations. We tried to improve the weaknesses and so far the balance of the car seems quite good. Afterwards, the pure performance of the car, again it's too early to talk about it but the balance seems a little bit better.

What about the engine? Mattia Binotto promised 50 more horses, do you feel them?

Once again, we didn't push to the max but the data seems to be in line with what we expected.

Have you progressed in a straight line?

Yes

Is the atmosphere in the team overall more positive than it was a year ago at the same time?

I think we learned from the past. In any case, I'm sure that's the case. After my 3rd winter tests with Ferrari, I'm starting to understand that you shouldn't have an opinion after the pre-season tests because each time I had an opinion, it was often the opposite. For now I'm focusing on the job at hand and we'll see where we are in the first race.

How did the start of the collaboration with Carlos go?

Very good. We're more or less the same age. We've had a lot of laughs together since the start of the season. We spent a lot of time together in Maranello working on the car and on top of that, and this is even more important, we are pushing in the same direction car-wise. We need the same things to go fast, which is not always the case between two drivers. We need a fairly similar car at the moment, so this is pretty good.

Last year, you were sometimes carried away by your enthusiasm. Did you work on this aspect during the winter?

Quite honestly, I sometimes took risks and it was clear that I went too far. I will learn from these situations. Afterwards, there are also many times when it has helped us. It's up to me to judge in the car when I should take risks and when I should stay a little quieter. A few times I exaggerated a little gain a little and I will try not to repeat that.

Has the fact of having experienced a big disappointment in 2020 better equipped you for the start of the year?

Yes but afterwards I hope that this will not clearly be the case. I'm always very optimistic by nature so I'm looking forward to the first race but deep down I really want it to go well. We're trying to do our best and I hope it goes well.

Have your engineers already given you feedback on the competition?

Honestly, it's very complicated. There are reports but again based on previous years it's impossible to know where they stand.

Charles Leclerc is currently conducting the final day of testing, which you can follow in live text on our site.