Ferrari’s young driver Charles Leclerc impressed the Haas F1 Team during his free practice debut at the British Grand Prix last weekend.
The 18-year-old GP3 Series championship leader drove the Haas car for the first time in the first of the five outings with the American team, with Haas F1 Team Principal Guenther Steiner impressed with the Monegasque driver’s composure behind the wheel.
“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 race car 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 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 will continue to drive the Haas in practice at the Hungarian and German Grand Prix, but Steiner has warned the young driver that the workload will be more intense: “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.”
