Leclerc will 'adapt aggressivity', better choose his fights in 2021

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Ferrari's Charles Leclerc vows to choose his fights better this season and adapt his "aggressivity" to avoid the mistakes that undermined several of his races last year.

Leclerc was involved in several on-track encounters with rivals in 2020, including with his Ferrari teammate Sebastian Vettel with whom he came together in the Styrian GP.

But Lance Stroll and Max Verstappen were also on the receiving end of the Monegasque's costly errors last season.

Leclerc justified his risk-taking in the early stages of races by the Scuderia's under-performance which often left him in the thick of the pack on the grid.

"It wasn’t great but as you’ve mentioned that I had mentioned last year, it was definitely a difficult moment for the team and I was extremely motivated to do something special and that motivation sometimes translated to crashes onto the track, which wasn’t great," explained Leclerc ahaed of this weekend's season-opening Bahrain Grand Prix.

"As I have done in the past with my mistakes. I’ve always tried to understand why I have done them and tried to not do them again.

"I will still be as motivated to try and do great results and we will have to see where we are at exactly to adapt my aggressivity on track. Of course, I will try not to reproduce these types of mistakes."

Read also: Leclerc admits to 'strange atmosphere' at Ferrari in 2020

Leclerc hopes that improvements in the Ferrari camp based on pre-season testing will help him keep out of harm's way.

"Let’s wait and see where we are again because I think there are positive signs already from the test and we will see for sure from Saturday onwards," he said.

"I think I will probably choose my fights a little bit better.

"Last year, if you take here by example, I was fighting with a Red Bull which wouldn’t have been possible to keep behind for the rest of the race.

"So that was a bit silly to have a crash [with Verstappen] at that point of the race for these types of positions we wouldn't have been able to keep anyway, but many other occasions it helped us achieve much better results."

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Phillip van Osten

Motor racing was a backdrop from the outset in Phillip van Osten's life. Born in Southern California, Phillip grew up with the sights and sounds of fast cars thanks to his father, Dick van Osten, an editor and writer for Auto Speed and Sport and Motor Trend. Phillip's passion for racing grew even more when his family moved to Europe and he became acquainted with the extraordinary world of Grand Prix racing. He was an early contributor to the monthly French F1i Magazine, often providing a historic or business perspective on Formula 1's affairs. In 2012, he co-authored along with fellow journalist Pierre Van Vliet the English-language adaptation of a limited edition book devoted to the great Belgian driver Jacky Ickx. He also authored "The American Legacy in Formula 1", a book which recounts the trials and tribulations of American drivers in Grand Prix racing. Phillip is also a commentator for Belgian broadcaster Be.TV for the US Indycar series.