Leclerc makes breakthrough in Baku

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10:57, 29 Apr 2018

Charles Leclerc believes he has made a breakthrough in Azerbaijan that could change his performance at Alfa Romeo Sauber

The reigning Formula 2 champion has struggled to adjust to the complexity of F1 but says this weekend has been a positive step for him.

“I think the biggest step in all of that is the setup approach that we took for here with a lot more of a stable car.

“It’s a lot easier to drive for me, a lot easier to push to the limit. This is I think a big step forward. I think a combination of these three things made us do this step.

“We targeted a more understeery balance. It’s a lot easier to drive. I think when we were targeting a more oversteer, I especially like an oversteery balance, but it was very difficult and very unpredictable to drive.

“I made quite a lot of mistakes in the first three races and looking back I think I would probably have changed that from these three races.

“I think it’s a step forward in that direction. The overall grip is less because we have less downforce, but the actual balance is more understeer.”

Pos.	Driver	Team	Points
1	Kimi Antonelli Kimi Antonelli	MercedesMER	156
2	Lewis Hamilton Lewis Hamilton	FerrariFER	115
3	George Russell George Russell	MercedesMER	106
4	Charles Leclerc Charles Leclerc	FerrariFER	75
5	Lando Norris Lando Norris	McLarenMCL	73
6	Oscar Piastri Oscar Piastri	McLarenMCL	70
7	Max Verstappen Max Verstappen	Red Bull RacingRBR	55
8	Isack Hadjar Isack Hadjar	Red Bull RacingRBR	37
9	Pierre Gasly Pierre Gasly	AlpineALP	32
10	Liam Lawson Liam Lawson	Racing BullsRCB	28
11	Franco Colapinto Franco Colapinto	AlpineALP	19
12	Oliver Bearman Oliver Bearman	HaasHAA	18
13	Arvid Lindblad Arvid Lindblad	Racing BullsRCB	14
14	Carlos Sainz Carlos Sainz	WilliamsWIL	6
15	Alexander Albon Alexander Albon	WilliamsWIL	5
16	Esteban Ocon Esteban Ocon	HaasHAA	3
17	Gabriel Bortoleto Gabriel Bortoleto	AudiAUD	2
18	Fernando Alonso Fernando Alonso	Aston MartinAST	1
19	Nico Hulkenberg Nico Hulkenberg	AudiAUD	0
20	Valtteri Bottas Valtteri Bottas	CadillacCAD	0
21	Sergio Perez Sergio Perez	CadillacCAD	0
22	Lance Stroll Lance Stroll	Aston MartinAST	0

Leclerc makes breakthrough in Baku

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