Leclerc: "It's gonna be hard to get back in that state"

Charles Leclerc expects that it will be difficult for Formula 1 drivers to return to the mental 'bubble' they need to perform at their best when racing eventually resumes.

Start of the season

The bosses of Formula 1 are still not sure of the start of the season due to the coronavirus pandemic. Although it looks more and more like the first race of this season will take place on July 5 in Austria.

Until then, the drivers will be sitting at home on their simulator. The lack of races until then means that the drivers have not been in the car for five months. Leclerc says to Motorsport.com that he thinks it will not be easy to return to the intensive life of an F1 driver after this period.

Mental bubble

“It's going to be difficult: the mindset and to find exactly the bubble you need to be in just before getting into the car", says Leclerc. “This is something that you are getting better at every time you do it, so once you don't do it for a long time, then it's difficult to get back to this state. So yeah, it's going to be difficult."

“In the end at home I'm trying to train every week or so to try and put myself in the zone, even though it's not to get in the car: it’s most probably just to cook pasta after that" jokes the Monegask. “But yeah, just to train myself to be in this zone."

When asked what the Ferrari driver misses the most during the lockdown, no surprising answer came out: “Racing. Racing and I think seeing people, being with people. Because at the end being here in this apartment for a few weeks starts to be a bit boring."