Charles LeClerc Says 2020 Ferrari Has Better Setup Flexibility

Ferrari driver Charles Leclerc said the increased flexibility the Ferrari F1000 displayed in set up direction would help to avoid becoming too circuit-dependent.

Leclerc was handling the beginning of pre-season tests on Wednesday in Barcelona. He recorded one hundred and thirty-one laps in the new car.

Leclerc will be behind the wheel on Thursday to carry on the morning tests while his teammate Sebastian Vettel will take over the afternoon test runs.

Charles is in his second year driving for Ferrari and was has contributed design inputs into the construction of the new car to suit his driving style and needs.

He explained how the Ferrari team during last year's season paid particular attention to his comments and felt they incorporated his suggestions into the car's new design.

Leclerc talked about how Ferrari now understands and knows him better as a driver. Apparently, the team came to utilize things he needed from the car for him to give the best performance on the track.

Unfotunately, it has not reflected as much in the early days of testing. During the first day of testing, Leclerc finished in the eleventh position and said he was encouraged by changes made to the car and its subsequent performance.

He claimed further changes on the car would be designed and used so as to suit the driver's style. He also defended the initial results saying that they had not yet fully pushed the vehicle during the tests.

Leclerc also denied the rumors that new changes were because of the different styles of driving between him and his teammate Vettel.

He said that while the team performed well on some tracks last season, they struggled in others, and the changes brought in were meant to address the problem of set-up flexibility for the car on different circuits.

During the Barcelona tests, Mercedes team Lewis Hamilton gave excellent form and put in the fastest lap time.

Hamilton's Ferrari teammate Bottas came in second after seventy-eight laps around the circuit. He was just four-tenths behind of the 1 minute 16.976 seconds done by Hamilton.

The two teammates combined, finished a hundred and sixty-seven laps, the equivalent to three times the distance of the Spanish GP circuit.

Racing Point's and Red Bull's drivers Sergio Perez and Max Verstappen, came in at positions three and four, respectively.

Williams team driver George Russel came in at sixth after completing seventy-three laps.