F1: LeClerc Surprised at Sauber Form

Sauber driver Charles LeClerc has been  having an excellent run of form in F1. A fine sixth place in Baku was a welcome result for the Monegasque driver. But he followed it up with two top-ten finishes in the next three races. Now, Leclerc is finding it hard to believe how Sauber are capitalising on opportunities with such regularity.

The rookie driver had a solid reputation prior to joining F1. He won the GP3 and F2 titles in successive seasons before getting the call up. In just 7 races, he has already settled himself among the big boys.

Unfortunately for him, he retired while fighting for 11th on home soil in Monaco. But that did little to dampen his spirits as he landed right back in the points in Canada. Given the calibre of the middle-order, the Ferrari protege admits that the competitive run of form exceeds his own expectations.

“I am extremely happy about [Canada],” Leclerc said. “We are coming back from a brake issue in Monaco on probably the most difficult track for the brakes in Montreal, so it was a very big challenge for us but we reacted very well. I am really proud of the work we have done. We knew how to fix the issues we had in Monaco and that’s what we did here so I am very happy.

“I’m not surprising myself but the team is very happy and that’s the main thing that matters to me.

“I can’t believe that we are having such positive races. Actually that’s now four or five races that we are just having amazing results race after race. So it’s great but we need to keep working and keep improving like we are doing and hopefully it will continue like that.”

Leclerc has been steadily improving his form, but he credits Sauber’s own ability to progress consistently as one of the reasons he has been able to repeat strong performances.

“We are bringing small steps but always steps that are going in the right direction since the beginning of the season. So I think that’s our strength. Every time you can feel a little bit of progress in the team.

“We need to be careful a little bit because I believe that the four or five next races will be a lot more difficult for us, but we’ll have to see. I’m extremely happy with the races we’ve done until now. We’ve taken every opportunity we had to score points and about this we should be very proud.”