Leclerc happy that Ferrari is finally taking more risks in hunt for Red Bull

"There were some signs already in the past. I think in Las Vegas we came close. Unfortunately, a bad safety car didn't help us. So we know that on weekends where they may be a bit outside the optimum window of their car, there's an opportunity. We just need to be there whenever there's this opportunity," Leclerc told GPblog and others ahead of the weekend in Imola.

In Miami, McLaren were in a better position to capitalise. "They were also a little bit luckier in the race," added the Monegasque. "However, they deserved it because they brought the upgrade on a tricky weekend on a sprint race weekend, and everything worked well for them. But I go into every weekend knowing that there's an opportunity to win if we do everything perfect. And that's what motivates us as well as being in a very good, positive moment for the team."

Ferrari will get its first upgrade of the year next weekend. Expectations surrounding this are high. "I am positive and optimistic about the future. And occasions like Miami won't happen often this year. So we should always be there and hopefully catch the next one," said Leclerc.

More risk at Ferrari

Frederic Vasseur said earlier this year that Ferrari should consider taking more risks to take on Red Bull. Does Leclerc agree with that reading? "I think it's definitely a step that Fred has already made the team take this year, especially focusing on the last detail, on the last degree, on the very last fine details out of everybody in the team. When you put everything together, if you look only at one detail, you're like, OK, why take the risk? But then when everybody takes this risk, you add everything up, and it makes a big difference."

"It's very important for us to extract the absolute maximum of the car. And I think this is the mentality that we've had since the beginning of the season and that we'll continue having going forward to try and beat everybody."