Leclerc keeping his ambitions in check for Barcelona

Charles Leclerc heads to Barcelona buoyed by his impressive sixth-place finish at the preceding round in Baku, but the Sauber driver is keeping his expectations at a realistic level.

The young rookie delivered a flawless performance over the course of the three-day Azerbaijan Grand Prix weekend, making the Q2 cut in qualifying and extracting the most from himself and the circumstances on race day.

The Monegasque is cautious however on his outlook for the immediate future, unwilling to target points at each round.

• Change of style at the basis of Leclerc's improved performance

"This is something I need to be careful of," he told Autosport.

"Being realistic, this is not going to happen every race. Okay, everything went very well, but nobody should expect the same race next time. It would be stupid.

"We shouldn't expect this, but we'll work to get a similar result in the future."

In the immediate term, Barcelona will offer Sauber a few challenges to overcome, starting with the track's new surface which Leclerc feels will put the emphasis on tyre management this weekend.

"I have good memories of Barcelona from the past, and it is interesting to return to a track where we did the winter test with the C37. I like the Circuit de Barcelona-Catalunya," he adds.

"Tyre management will be a key factor, as the degradation is quite high on this track. Overall it is a special track, as it is very technical and has every type of corner.

"I look forward to getting back in the car."

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