Charles Leclerc impresses on F1 bow

Published on 12 Jul 2016 14:36

By: Dominik Wilde

Haas F1 Team principal Gunther Steiner was impressed with Ferrari junior Charles Leclerc after he made his Formula One free practice début with the team at the British Grand Prix last weekend.

The Frenchman, who currently leads the GP3 points standings, was 18th fastest, with a time of 1 minute 35.869 seconds.

"I found it quite good how calm he was about the whole thing, and we must never forget this is an 18-year-old kid in an F1 car - the fastest racecar in the world," said Steiner. "I wasn't surprised by him, but I was impressed by him and what he did."

"He told us what he felt in the car, just as any driver would do, but he was very cool about it, he continued. "He was excited, but he didn't show it - who wouldn't be excited to be driving an F1 car at 18? He was very professional, he did a good job, and he showed he can do it."

Leclerc's strong maiden showing has led to him being handed a test chance with Ferrari this week. He is behind the wheel of the team's SF16-H today as Formula One holds its final in-season test of 2016.

Following this week Leclerc will make further outings for Haas, and Steiner has made it clear what he will expect from the 18-year-old

"There's nothing easy in Formula 1 if you want to make it," he added.

"We're not going to make it easy, we know what he has to do.

"Now he has done this, next time he will want to do more and we will expect more."