Charles Leclerc's improvement surprises Ferrari!

Ferrari boss Mattia Binotto has been impressed and surprised by the development of young driver Charles Leclerc in his second F1 season and first with Ferrari.

Leclerc became the youngest driver to join the Italian team in years when he replaced Kimi Raikkonen for the 2019 season and he has been a solid addition to the team, scoring five podium positions and narrowly missing out on victory twice.

Binotto told Motorsport.com: “Even his collaboration with the team, his way of supporting the team in the development of the car, is improving race by race, day by day, that’s another positive of the first half."

The Monegasque was leading in Bahrain before car issues denied him the win, and in Austria he was overtaken by Max Verstappen in the dying laps.

Binotto continued: “We knew that he was a talent, we knew that he was very strong when attacking or defending, because we could’ve seen that in F3 [GP3] and F2.

“I think if there’s anything that’s surprising us is how much he’s improving through the races. And I think race after race, his weekend is becoming more solid and solid, and I think he can even do better than what’s he’s doing.”