F1 News
Leclerc happy with new approach in France
- Jake Williams-Smith
Charles Leclerc says that his renewed approach has worked after he finished ahead of Ferrari teammate Sebastian Vettel in qualifying for the French Grand Prix.
Since graduating from Formula 2 to Formula 1 with Sauber last season, Leclerc has struggled to put together his theoretical best time in Q3 when he has reached the final session.
With the added pressure of being a Ferrari driver and racing at the front, that weakness has been exposed so far in 2019 but the 21-year-old believes his change in approach in France worked out well, ending up P3 and ahead of his teammate.
"I'm very happy with this result after a few difficult weekends, especially the recent qualifying sessions," the Monegasque driver said after the race.
"I changed my approach in advance of this weekend. I also have a different approach to tuning the car and I think it's heading in the right direction, so I'm very happy that it's paying off in results."
Leclerc also added that the team still needed to work on the upgrades it was bringing to the SF90. Once again the Italian outfit finished a long way off of Mercedes in qualifying despite the promise shown at the Canadian Grand Prix.
"We brought some new parts with us this weekend. Some of them were good, others less so. Once again it is clear that Mercedes is stronger at the moment, so we have to keep working to close the gap."