Leclerc urges Ferrari caution ahead of Imola

Charles Leclerc has warned Ferrari must not “overdo” its preparations for its upcoming home race at Imola if it wants to win on Italian soil again for the first time since 2019.

The Monégasque driver expects the atmosphere to be “crazy” with the famous Tifosi fans out in force, but he has urged his team to stay calm and build on its successful winning start to the season.

“Italy, for us, it’s always incredible so I can’t wait to be there,” said Leclerc.

“On the other hand, I will push the team, even though they know it, we don’t need to arrive there with a mindset of trying to do.

“We’ve been working extremely well from the beginning of the season and I want to keep that and not to overdo it for our home race. So we need to try to manage that in the best way possible.”

Leclerc – Imloa will be tense

Ferrari heads to Imola on a roll after winning the third race of the season in Melbourne and it currently leads the constructors’ championship by 39 points from recovering former champions Mercedes.

The pressure will be on, not just from the crowd expectation but also from rival Red Bull, which will be keen to fight back after a disappointing retirement for Max Verstappen in Melbourne.

Asked how he will deal with the pressure, Leclerc said: “Well, it’s always tense. Monza [last year] was a very tense race with Lewis [Hamilton] behind, but again, I just try to not think too much about where we are.

“Even though the grandstand will look particularly different, there will probably be a bit more red, we will just try to focus on our job and not try to focus too much on where we are in the championship and location also.”

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