Leclerc: I understood my errors and made a big step forward

The Ferrari-backed kid wobbled into his first season with Sauber and it took three or so incident-packed race weekends for Leclerc to calm down and for his real quality to emerge.

Leclerc conceded, more than once in the interview, that his first few races were below par for his expectations, “I made quite a lot of mistakes in the first three races.”

But in the last seven outings, he has turned things around, twice he's been in Q3 and on each occasion outqualified his more experienced teammate Marcus Ericsson.

His drive to sixth place in Baku was the stuff of legend. This he followed up with by finishing 10th in Barcelona, both times mixing it with well known 'street-fighter' Fernando Alonso. Leclerc has scored points on five occasions, his teammate only twice.

Nowadays - earning praise from F1 heavyweights Lewis Hamilton and Sebastian Vettel - its a common sight watching Leclerc wrestle his Sauber to places it should not be, comprehensively outperforming and outshining his teammate but, amid a certain degree hype, the youngster is not allowing the success to go to his head.

Reflecting on his first ten races in Formula 1, Leclerc told the official F1 website, “It’s crazy, how it’s going up and up and up. We’re doing an incredible job, which is great, but it raises expectations. When you’re doing still a good job but not incredible, people might see it like a bad day, so we have to be careful about that.”

Expectations were always high for Leclerc when he arrived on the big stage with a fine pedigree, his junior CV is very impressive with the 2016 GP3 and the 2017 Formula 2 titles etched with his name.

This is no surprise because Ferrari have been grooming him to step up to the Scuderia, thus the spotlight on him is intense, but he brushes away the pressure, “It doesn’t bother me. I’m just focusing on myself."

"The most important thing is that the team is happy and the team knows what to expect every weekend and they know how good of a job we are doing at the moment. So we need to keep focusing on that.”

Last year his father Herve died after a long illness, inevitably the emotions are raw still but also serves as inspiration for him, "My father has given me the quality. He has always been honest with me and has always taught me to be honest with myself, because that’s the most important thing."

"I think you go forward a lot quicker when you’re honest with yourself, when you accept when you’ve made an error. If you know you have made a mistake, you should work to try not reproduce it again. But if you know it, that’s the most important thing."

A very mature outlook on life for one so young, perhaps emotionally more evolved than his peers because of the tragedy and pain of losing his father. Instead of wallowing in the huge loss, for one so young, he redirected the energy to turn things around when, after the first three races, he had not impressed the fickle F1 paddock.

Leclerc reflected, "The first two or three races were a big challenge for me. It came from one thing especially, which was what I was asking the engineers to give me, in terms of car balance. It was just wrong."

"I just asked for a very tricky car and I never realised it until we arrived in Baku and we tried a more stable car. Once I realised it, I understood my errors and I think we made a big step forward after that."

Drivers who perform beyond the call of duty, a trait of the greats, inspires those around him and the effect is contagious often capable of galvanising a team. Leclerc has this effect at Sauber.

Another trait he shares with the greats is a relentless work ethic and constant attention to detail, "I call my engineers quite a lot. I speak to them after the races, on Monday or Tuesday, to do a point on the last Grand Prix and to speak about the next race and find out if we have any upgrades."

"I ask them what I can do better, what I can improve and if my way to work with them is OK. We speak a bit about everything."

This carries through to how Leclerc operates in the confines of the cockpit, “I think quite a lot when I’m driving. It’s very important for me to think how the car is behaving, and how I would like it to behave and how to drive with the car behaving the wrong way. Actually, there is a lot going through my head when I’m driving."

"I’m rarely saying anything positive about me. I would never say it’s something natural. I believe my manager did the right steps with me. Since 2012, I haven’t done twice the same category in two years. Every time I have stepped up one category. That has helped me to really push to adapt myself very quickly to a new car."

"When I’m doing a good job, Seb is coming to me and saying ‘well done’. I’ve seen Lewis has spoken about me in the media. Fernando [Alonso] comes sometimes personally. It’s great to have these drivers speaking positively about me. It’s a huge honour. I have a lot of respect for them. I’m watching them since I was younger."

Inevitably speculation that Leclerc is set to replace Kimi Raikkonen at Ferrari, possibly from next year, has been constant for several months but, typically, he is ignoring the gossip, "I have the mentality that is focusing on what is happening at the moment"

"I don’t want to change this and I don’t think it will be good for me to change it. I don’t think it’s any good to distract myself with what could possibly happen next year. I think it’s important I stay focused on the job I have to do now. Hopefully, I keep doing a good job with the team. And then we’ll see."

One of the keys to success at Sauber for Leclerc is the presence of no-nonsense team chief Frederic Vasseur who has had a hand in the junior careers of most of the top guns in F1, including Vettel, Hamilton and Nico Rosberg.

Vasseur, who is understandably protective of his young charge, summed up, "He’s ramping up. I’m very proud of the job he’s done. It’s not been easy for him. But I’ve been impressed by his calm attitude and his ability to manage the tough comments about him after the first few races."