Change of approach in France has helped Charles Leclerc "drive more naturally"
F1 News
Charles Leclerc has finished on the podium in each of the last four Grands Prix and has finished ahead of teammate Sebastian Vettel in every race since the Canadian Grand Prix. The man from Monaco believes a change of approach in how he drove the Ferrari car has allowed him to be more "natural".
The 21-year-old trails Vettel by just three points in the Formula 1 world championship. If he beats Vettel again in the German Grand Prix, it's likely that he will move ahead in the world championship.
Speaking in the build-up to the race weekend, Leclerc explains how he made an approach change which has allowed him to drive his Ferrari car in a more natural way.
“I think before France it was more myself that was adapting to the car, after that, I think we change a little bit the approach and I think I adapted a bit more the car to my driving. So then I could drive a little bit more naturally, which helped me,” Leclerc told the media and is quoted by motorsport.com.
Leclerc was then asked why he didn't use the new approach at the start of the season. He believes this was due to the fact he wanted to protect his relationship with his new team after moving from Sauber to Ferrari.
“You know, arriving in such a big team, obviously when I arrived it was only my second year in Formula 1, you are a little bit intimidated - or I was a little bit intimidated. And to straight away arrive and say 'okay, I want this, this and this' was not the way I wanted to start this relationship. So at first, I wanted to understand the car, try to adapt my driving as much as possible," Leclerc said.
“At one point, I managed to do good things adapting my driving style, but then I felt that there was more performance by trying to put the car a little bit more into my direction, and this has helped the performance since then.”