Leclerc views first day in Abu Dhabi positively: 'This is no surprise'

Charles Leclerc worked hard on the first day of the race weekend in Abu Dhabi. In the final race, the Monegasque wants to definitely take second place in the world championship and therefore hopes to find his rhythm quickly. In conversation with Formula1.com he discusses the first two free practice sessions scheduled on Friday.

The driver is on an equal number of points with Sergio Perez, putting a lot at stake in Abu Dhabi. On Friday, Leclerc managed to outperform his direct rival twice. His time in both the first and second sessions was enough for third position.

Leclerc confident for GP Abu Dhabi

Leclerc, however, is trying to focus mainly on his own performance. The driver kept a good feeling from the practice sessions, especially when he compares it to the past. Indeed, according to Leclerc, it has been a long time since nothing happened at Ferrari on the first day.

"For a long time we didn’t have seen that – this is good. On the other hand, we seemed to lack a little bit of pace, especially on the race runs," Leclerc analysed. In first practice, he was two and a half tenths off Lewis Hamilton's time, who took first place, while Max Verstappen took P1 a few hours later with a difference of four and a half tenths.

"Our quali runs seem to be okay, but this is no surprise, as it’s been the case for the last few races. We just need to try and find a little bit of performance for the race. That’s definitely where our focus will be. Whether it will be the case or not, I don’t know yet."