Leclerc looks ahead: 'The new tyres are quite hard to drive'

Charles Leclerc may have grabbed pole position twice in 2021, but the Ferrari driver's season was still one in the shadow of top teams Mercedes and Red Bull. Moreover, his new teammate Carlos Sainz finished above the Monegasque in the final rankings.

Sacrificed

With the new regulations in place, Ferrari hopes to return to the top. Or at least structurally compete for the podium spots. Last season was actually sacrificed for that because there were not many updates and further development of the 2021 car. Everything was focused on 2022.

Of course, all the teams are busy developing and building the new cars. No doubt Leclerc already has a first impression of the car. Moreover, in the simulator, the 24-year-old has already driven the first kilometres with the 2022 car. What stands out is the way the larger tyres work. "It's quite a bit different," he explained to the Official website of Formula 1.

Pretty tough

Indeed, Leclerc believes it will be difficult to drive with those tyres. "It makes it quite tricky, I mean, it's challenging for us drivers and I think it will be more challenging... to drive those cars overall. It has probably a bit of a bigger window to work in and in cold conditions, it feels quite good, but it's quite tricky when you use the car in the high-speed, especially."