F1 News
Leclerc confident for Mexico even though the venue "is pretty new to me"
- Nicolás Quarles van Ufford
Young Ferrari star Charles Leclerc is looking forward to the challenge that is the Mexican Grand Prix, as the 22-year-old has only raced at the Autodromo Hermanos Rodriguez once last season, when he was still a rookie at Alfa Romeo Sauber.
The Monegasque has taken four of the last five possible pole positions but only managed to convert two of those into race wins on Sunday.
His last race weekend in Japan did not go to plan either, getting out-qualified by teammate Sebastian Vettel on Sunday morning and understeering into Max Verstappen's RB15 at turn two of the race, ending his chances of getting a win before the race had really started.
On top of that, the two-time race winner got dealt 15 seconds' worth of penalties after the Grand Prix, dropping him down to P6.
Now, with the Mexican Grand Prix ahead this weekend, the sophomore driver admits he doesn't have much experience driving at the venue, although he does feel confident heading into the fourth-last race of the 2019 season.
“The circuit in Mexico is an unusual one," he said.
"We race at such a high altitude and all the teams try to put as much downforce on the car as possible. Despite that, it still feels quite weird and the grip is extremely low.
"I have done one FP1 and one race there, so it’s one of the tracks that is still pretty new to me. I really enjoy driving there, especially because the walls are quite close and this is something I like as a driver."