Leclerc credits 'step-by-step' approach for improvement

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Charles Leclerc has revealed that he's made a conscious change of approach since the previous Grand Prix weekend in Portugal, and says that it helped boost his performance in today's free practice.

Leclerc finished Friday third fastest behind the two Mercedes drivers, and was just 0.165s behind Lewis Hamilton's best run in Barcelona.

"It was a very good day," the Ferrari driver commented after the end of the session. "We had a good day, a clean day.

Read also: FP2: Hamilton and Bottas end Friday quickest in Barcelona

"I changed a little bit my approach compared to Portimão, taking it a lot more step-by-step," he said, explaining that much of the day had been spent running and analysing the medium tyres that had been such a problem for the team last time out.

"I think we know where to improve, now let’s see if we make a good job by just getting better where we are struggling at.

"And I’m just driving a lot better and in a better place with the car, so hopefully we can keep on building on that strong first day for tomorrow."

Leclerc said that Saturday's qualifying session would be especially important, and this was a track where it was difficult to overtake. However he remained realistic about what was possible this weekend.

"If we can be right behind the Mercedes and Red Bull, that’s the best we can hope for right now," he said. “If there’s good surprises, even more than that, it will be welcome.

"But I think the objective should be to be just behind them."

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Andrew Lewin

Andrew first became a fan of Formula 1 during the time when Michael Schumacher and Damon Hill were stepping into the limelight after the era of Alain Prost, Nigel Mansell and Aryton Senna. He's been addicted ever since, and has been writing about the sport now for nearly a quarter of a century for a number of online news sites. He's also written professionally about GP2 (now Formula 2), GP3, IndyCar, World Rally Championship, MotoGP and NASCAR. In his other professional life, Andrew is a freelance writer, social media consultant, web developer/programmer, and digital specialist in the fields of accessibility, usability, IA, online communities and public sector procurement. He worked for many years in magazine production at Bauer Media, and for over a decade he was part of the digital media team at the UK government's communications department. Born and raised in Essex, Andrew currently lives and works in south-west London.