For the first time in his short F1 career, Charles Leclerc will help develop Ferrari's next car with the benefit of having a year of experience under his belt.
Leclerc left Alfa Romeo Racing after his maiden season in F1 to join the House of Maranello. So 2020 will mark the first time the Monegasque will enjoy a second year with the same outfit.
"It’s the first time in my single-seater career where I stay in the same team from one year to another, which also should be an interesting challenge to develop the car," Leclerc told Formula1.com,
"Overall, we progressed quite a lot [in 2019], which I think is the most important, and now I'm really looking forward to keeping this momentum for next year."
Leclerc concluded his sophomore year in the sport with two race wins and seven pole positions, more than any other driver on the grid in 2019.
On the back of the impressive speed it had shown in winter testing, Ferrari was the favourite for top honours before the season kicked off in Melbourne, but struggles unexpectedly ensued in the first half of the season, with Mercedes' W10 having a clear upper hand over the Scuderia's low-downforce SF90H.
But the Scudueria's contender emerged as a stronger package after F1's summer break, delivering three consecutive wins to the team.
"It's been a bit of a weird season," admitted Leclerc. "We started off definitely not where we thought we would start after the winter testing.
"Winter testing was very positive, then we arrived at the first race and we have been struggling quite a lot.
"But then after that, I think the progression was very good. Austin has been a little bit weird too. We still don't really understand why we were so off the pace.
"But overall I think it has been a positive season – apart from the first race, that has been very negative."
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