After a short break in the calendar, Charles Leclerc arrived in the Circuit of the Americas paddock, just outside Austin, keen to go racing again in what will be the 19th round of the Formula 1 World Championship. “It’s now time to get back in the car and, as always, I am pleased it involves tackling a Sprint format weekend, because it means the competitive part starts immediately with qualifying for the Sprint race already tomorrow afternoon,” he said.
Race by race. Like his team-mate, Carlos Sainz, Charles knows that in the early part of the weekend,, free practice and the Sprint race, will be useful for checking how the updates introduced on the SF-24 from Monza onwards, are working on the demanding Austin track. “I think that, over the past few races, we have gone in the right direction, but it will be important to check how good a job we have done and we will get the answer by seeing how well the car behaves through some of the corners at this track,” said Charles. “I don’t think the hierarchy among the teams will change significantly, nor do I believe we start off as favourites, but I believe that if we do everything well, we can be competitive and in with a chance of getting good results in all six remaining races. Therefore, I don’t think it’s worth speculating in a meaningful way on our chances in the two championships and it’s better to take things race by race.”
Fastest lap. Like many of his peers, Charles said he wasn’t too bothered by the FIA’s decision to eliminate the awarding of an extra point to any top ten finisher who set the fastest race lap. “It doesn’t always reward the best driver,” he explained. Because usually, it goes to the driver who happens to be in the position of making an additional pit stop without losing his place. I don’t think it will be missed very much, partly because, to date, it hasn’t had much of an effect on the outcome of the championship.”