Keep calm under spotlight

Pressure does not seem to affect Charles Leclerc, which is just as well given where his career is taking him and his stuttering start to the Formula One campaign, writes Stan Szecowka.

The 21-year-old driver from Monaco earned a prestigious move to Ferrari following strong performances for unheralded Sauber in his debut season.

Leclerc hasn’t looked out of place or out of the headlines since and at times has looked the closest Ferrari driver to challenging Mercedes’ reigning world champion Lewis Hamilton and teammate Valtteri Bottas.

Leclerc came closest to a win in the season’s second race in Bahrain on the last weekend of March when he led before an engine fault dropped him to third.

In Azerbaijan, Leclerc appeared the favourite for pole position before he crashed in qualifying. The Monaco driver started the race eighth but entertained with a string of early overtaking moves.

There was more misery in the last race staged at his home. Leclerc started 15th, after his team bungled qualifying with a strategy disaster, and retired after just 19 laps.

He started his race strongly, making up three places in the opening stages, including a bold overtake on Haas’ Romain Grosjean at La Rascasse. However, a repeat attempt on Nico Hulkenberg at the same spot would spell the beginning of the end, as he clunked the barrier with his rear-right tyre and caused a puncture.

In his rush to get back to the pits, Leclerc severely damaged his car’s floor. Despite trying to run after a safety car period, he reported his car was impossible to drive and he was retired.

“We had to take a risk … maybe a little bit too much on my part,” Leclerc admitted. “It was a weekend to forget apart from the support which I received here, which was heart-warming.”

The only driver from Monaco to win the race was Louis Chiron in 1931. Although Leclerc has time well on his side, he now must wait at least another year.

Leclerc is racing alongside four-time world champion Sebastian Vettel who finished as runner-up in Monaco.

Along with Verstappen - who is the same age - Leclerc is tipped to follow Hamilton and Vettel as F1′s next stars.

Leclerc won the F2 championship at the first attempt, fast-tracking him into F1 and casting him into the spotlight. But by his own admission, he made errors as he forced the car too much on track, finishing 13th, 12th and 19th in his first three races when he moved to Formula 1.

“I remember when I made mistakes three weekends in a row it seemed like an eternity,” Leclerc told reporters in the Sauber motorhome rooftop at the Abu Dhabi Grand Prix. “From the outside it didn’t go unnoticed either and people were asking questions of me.”

Asked if he is affected by any questioning of him, Leclerc replied firmly. “No, not at all,” he said, “It doesn’t get to me.”

A veneer of confidence can be quickly exposed in the hard-nosed world of elite competition. But Leclerc speaks without a hint of arrogance and in precise sentences woven around an immense inner belief.

One of his strengths, and a key reason why Ferrari rates him highly, is a capacity for self-appraisal. Leclerc did not hide from his errors but embraced them and worked through them.

“I don’t have many regrets because, even in the weekends things went badly, that’s when I learned the most,” said. “They helped me become the driver I am now. I learned the mistakes you shouldn’t make in Formula One.”

Leclerc has already experienced a lot of emotional turmoil — losing his father and his close friend Jules Bianchi — and those setbacks forged a remarkably strong mental strength.

During his time in F2, Leclerc took pole position and won in Baku, Azerbaijan, shortly after the death of his father. That was only two years after losing his childhood friend Bianchi, the highly-rated French driver who died in July 2015 at the age of 25 from head injuries sustained in a collision during the 2014 Japanese GP.

Adversity helped Leclerc withstand other pressures and develop a clinical perspective, friends say. He needs it in the coming weeks.

Recent reports have spoken of trouble in the Ferrari camp, with Sebastian Vettel reportedly considering retirement, while their relationship with Leclerc is apparently ‘close to breaking point’ after his erratic and, as some cruel pundits described, ‘immature’ approach to his home race in Monaco.

However, Vettel insists that himself and Leclerc are having a positive effect on the team and are helping to develop the SF90 which is slipping away from the title fight.

“I think it’s positive. We’re pushing each other,” Vettel has been quoted as saying on sports website crash.net. “I think it became apparent for good reasons that Charles is very talented and very fast, so I think that’s a good situation for the team to have two drivers pushing the car to the limit and exploring the limitations, and trying to find out first of all what they are, and second how we can fix them.”

Leclerc first tested his driving skills at age three on a karting track owned by Bianchi’s father, a friend of Leclerc’s father. Early promise quickly materialised when Leclerc won the 2009 French championship and then he later took on Verstappen, Red Bull’s Pierre Gasly and Mercedes reserve driver Esteban Ocon in karting.

All are now promising F1 drivers and could again become Leclerc’s rivals in coming years.

Before that, Leclerc must put the disappointment of Monaco behind him and prepare for the Canadian Grand Prix on Sunday.