Charles Leclerc on being team leader at Ferrari: “I don’t really feel the difference compared to before. I have to do the same job as before. At the end, I am here to perform at my best when I am on track and to help the team as much as I can when I am outside the track. That’s what I was doing before; that’s what I will do now. Surely my comments will probably take a bit more weight now that I have a future with the team and they know how long I will stay with them, But it is not like I was not listened to before.”
Charles Leclerc on why Seb struggled this year: “It’s a question I don’t know the answer to. At the end, some drivers feel more at ease with the rear moving, some others more with understeer. And this year’s car probably fitted my driving style a little bit more. But also, as Seb mentioned a few times, it is a difficult year for him overall because he knows he is not going to be in the team next year and probably this plays a part, too.”
Charles on his 2020 season: “Looking back at the season, I am extremely happy with it, but on the other hand the car was not as good as last year so unfortunately I couldn’t achieve and show as much results-wise how good my season was. But thankfully somehow people have still managed to see I was doing a better job than last year even though the results were not as good. It kept me very motivated that people were seeing what I was doing in the car. After qualifying [Austria], it was pretty clear for everyone in the paddock that we were struggling and that’s where I found my motivation, saying: [OK, everyone knows we are struggling but I want to show them that we can actually do something quite good]. I actually have so much motivation when it is going badly. I am not the kind of person that feels bad because it is going badly. When it is going badly, I just think: [In which way can I impress people?].”
Charles Leclerc on being regarded as one of the three standout drivers on the grid, along with Hamilton and Verstappen: “It feels great because at the beginning of the season it was difficult to accept the situation we were in.”
Charles Leclerc on being too harsh on himself on the team radio: “It sounds that way, but when I get out of the car I am very honest with myself. Whenever I have done a good job, I know I have done it & I tell to myself, but whenever I do a bad job, I am frustrated.”
Charles Leclerc on his expectations for the 2021 season: “We shouldn’t have too much high expectations, but on the other hand I feel confident it will be better than this year and I really hope so. We are confident we are doing a good job but we prefer to be low on expectations because we don’t know how good a job the others are doing. We have done a good job in the last few races to tackle our issues, and I see how hard everyone is working in Maranello. People are just pushing at the maximum. And I hear positive things. You can never know until the first qualifying of the season.”
Leave a Reply