Leclerc will 'risk a bit more' to win title if season is short

Charles Leclerc says a shortened F1 season this year would incite him to take more risks on track to contend for the world title.

F1 fans are still waiting for clarity on when the 2020 season will finally kick off. But there's also uncertainty over the number of races the sport will be able to put together after its belated start.

The official attribution of the F1 world championship to a team or driver requires a minimum of eight races. But Leclerc hopes this year's campaign will include at least 12 or 13 rounds.

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"I think probably around 12 or 13 will be the minimum I would like to race at least for a significant championship," Leclerc told the media yesterday. "[Anything less] that is quite difficult.

"Less than 12 is always better than nothing. So whatever we can go with. But it would be great to try and squeeze 12 races at least this season."

Nevertheless, in the event of shortened season, Leclerc would be inclined to pull out all the stops to contend for the world title against his rivals, and specifically Lewis Hamilton.

"I’m pretty sure Mercedes and Lewis are still the favourites even if it’s an eight-race championship. So it’s going to be very difficult to beat them.

"But I will probably risk a bit more on track with risky strategies, risky overtakes and maybe it will pay off, maybe it will not."

Ferrari's relatively subdued form in pre-season testing lowered the team's expectations for the opening round in Melbourne.

Leclerc insists F1's prolonged hiatus hasn't altered the Scuderia's assumptions which have been put on hold until the season kicks off in earnest.

"It’s difficult because we haven’t done still the first quali, so we are still left with the thoughts we had during testing, which were not easy, to be completely honest. So we still need to wait and see," said the Monegasque.

"I don’t think this whole situation will make a big change in the standing that we’ve seen after testing. So for now we are not favourites and we know it."

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