Charles Leclerc in the points again in Barcelona

Here’s a habit Charles Leclerc would like to adopt: celebrating points at the end of a Formula 1 Grand Prix. For someone who queued victories in the last two seasons in GP3 and then in F2, these successive points almost taste like a victory.

Especially since the one obtained with the tenth place in Barcelona comes at the end of a race full of opportunism for the Monegasque. Indeed, he managed to stand out during the chaos caused by Romain Grosjean’s spin in the first lap: while he was 14th on the grid, he was in a very nice ninth place by the end of the first lap. Before the start, he knew it was a crucial phase of the race, as he told us in the motorhome after the finish: « Just as in Baku, you had to survive the first laps, stay on track and avoid the walls, here you have to give everything in the first lap because it’s very hard to overtake on this track. »

He then had to face the relentless pressure from the local favorite, Fernando Alonso. But that didn’t impress the young driver much: « Once you lower the visor, all drivers become killers, and I’m no different. He’s just another driver. The only thing we want is to keep the other driver behind. When it’s an experienced driver like Fernando, it’s less easy… » He managed to find an opening when the race restarted, right after the virtual safety car period. This is one of the things he still needs to learn a bit, as he readily admits: « These VSCs are still quite new to me. In F2, I had a limiter and pressed the button when the flag turned green. Here it’s a bit different because you always have to be at the limit of the time gap. I had a lot to do on the steering wheel and didn’t check this gap. And in fact, I was too slow and he passed. »

Towards the end of the race, he also faced the strong comeback of Sergio Perez, who opted for a two-stop strategy to compensate for a 15th place on the grid. The Mexican took advantage of his fresh soft tires against the worn mediums of the driver with number 16: « I was a bit too optimistic at the beginning of the second stint with the mediums. I had Sainz in my sights and pushed a bit too hard. By the end, I really didn’t have any tires left and had to survive until the finish. That’s what I did and we scored a point. So it’s very positive. »

This left him in tenth position, synonymous with a precious point for the team. A performance that his director, Frédéric Vasseur, didn’t necessarily expect: « Arriving here on Friday, I didn’t think we would score a point. For us, it’s a great performance to score a point here. » However, he also sees the glass half empty, thinking that there might have been an even better position to achieve.

The driver’s confidence is therefore at its peak as his home race approaches. Paradoxically, he has relatively little experience, having only raced there last year in F2: “It’s been a dream since I was a kid. I did it last year in F2, but it’s going to be incredible this time.” However, it’s a driver’s circuit, where the car’s mechanical potential makes less of a difference. This opens up the possibility of scoring points again…

From our special correspondent in Barcelona