Leclerc: Expectations are high because we are Ferrari

On Thursday, Ferrari launched their striking F1-45, a tribute to their first production car, the 125S, rolled out 75 years ago, the team is Bullish (as they tend to be this time of the season) as they go retro with the darker Red which Enzo's cars sported through the sixties and seventies.

Leclerc said on the occasion of the F1-75 launch at Maranello: "Of course expectations are high because we are Ferrari, we are the team that is expected to win all the time.

"What makes me confident about this year's car is the work that I've seen in the past few months. It's never easy to know until you're really on track for the first qualifying of the year and see the final picture. But the feeling is good," added Leclerc.

He has been the Scuderia's chosen one since he was signed up for Ferrari Driver Academy in his 2016 GP3 Series campaign and a season later Formula 2, winning both titles in the process.

He made his F1 debut for Alfa Romeo Sauber at the 2018 Australian Grand Prix and in 2019 was promoted to partner Sebastian Vettel who he beat regularly, to the point that the German's services were terminated.

Into Maranello walked Carlos Sainz, altering the Ferrari driver landscape in his first season by beating Leclerc in the final 2021 drivers championship standings.

The 24-year-old will be keen to reassert himself against a teammate (Sainz) who is forcing him to dig deeper, a very different benchmark to disillusioned (with Ferrari) Vettel who Charles ultimately humbled in their two seasons together in Red.

Drivers are not keen to be drawn into making predictions about a car that has yet to turn a wheel in anger. Leclerc thus preferred to emphasise that the team has had a lot of time to get the Ferrari F1-75 right, their first car of this era of the new rule.

"It’s been absolutely incredible by the whole team. It’s been a long time that we’ve been working on this car now and I can see how well we’ve been working, so that gives me the confidence for the future," added Leclerc who lines up for his fourth season as a Ferrari driver.

Leclerc and teammate Sainz will get a run in the F1-75 on Friday, a 15 km "demo run" allowed by new cars ahead of the 2022 season, before they are trucked to Circuit de Barcelona-Catalunya for more of a shakedown on 22 February, the day before the first thee day F1 preseason test begins.

The first round of the 23-Grand Prix season is scheduled for 20th March at Bahrain International Circuit.