THE AUSTRALIAN GP IN 5 KEY MOMENTS
F1 WORLD CHAMPIONSHIP ROUND 3
1 Leclerc finally discovers his Melbourne mojo
“Qualifying yesterday, we did not expect to have another bit of performance coming into today’s race. But to be honest, we were even stronger than yesterday in qualifying. So this has been a good surprise.”
It’s an ominous sign when the team running at the front of Formula 1 is surprising itself with how fast its car is. But the level of dominance Ferrari displayed in Australia came as a genuine shock to F1’s form man of the moment – Charles Leclerc.
As fine a driver as Leclerc is, he admits his driving style has never really clicked with Melbourne. Leclerc is someone who makes his time by monstering his way through slow corners at rates others find baffling – feeling his way on the brakes, creating levels of rotation from the rear of the car that rivals find difficult to live with. Then he’s on the throttle earlier, with the car pointing straighter than most, exiting those turns.
“I’ve always struggled with these type of corners – that are not really 90 degrees,” he said after qualifying on pole by nearly three tenths of a
