The Verstappen path Leclerc seems to be following in F1 2022

OPINION: Charles Leclerc insists he has not made a step up in his Formula 1 performances from 2021 into his early domination of 2022. But he does admit to there being one key difference compared to his past at Ferrari, which comes with striking similarity to the life of his closest on-track rival so far this year

Alex Kalinauckas Apr 12, 2022, 8:21 AM

Upd: Apr 12, 2022, 8:36 AM

“I never particularly struggle with pressure.” Charles Leclerc said that ahead of FP1 in Australia last weekend and it was clear throughout the rest of the event, which he utterly dominated.

There was the 0.286s gap to Max Verstappen – Max Verstappen – in qualifying. That secured pole, from which Leclerc led every lap of the race to score his fourth Formula 1 career victory, with the race’s fastest lap too, an accolade he wrapped up on the last lap even while going off-line lapping two backmarkers.

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Author Alex Kalinauckas

Alex Kalinauckas is Autosport's Grand Prix Editor, covering every Formula 1 race since the start of 2020. After completing a master's degree in journalism at Goldsmiths College University of London in 2014, he worked for a range of motorsport and technology publications while covering national racing as an Autosport freelancer.

A lifelong motorsport fan - no one in his family can explain quite how or why such a development first occurred - Alex joined the Autosport staff in April 2017 as the magazine’s Assistant Editor covering Formula 2 and GP3, before being made Formula E correspondent and Autosport.com’s Plus Editor in March 2018. He lives in north-east London and is constantly frustrated by the Central Line.