Charles Leclerc will make his Mexican Grand Prix debut this weekend at the Autodromo Hermanos Rodriguez, and he feels the track could give him the opportunity to score an eighth top-ten result of 2018.
The Alfa Romeo Sauber F1 Team driver, who will make the switch to Scuderia Ferrari in 2019 in place of Kimi Räikkönen, retired from the United States Grand Prix last weekend after suffering damage in a first lap incident with Romain Grosjean, but has scored twenty-one points in his rookie season so far.
Leclerc says he expects a much different weekend in Mexico than what drivers are used due to its high altitude and believes it will be a demanding and physical race on Sunday.
“The Mexican GP is a very interesting race, as it is different to what we are used to,” said Leclerc. “We are located at quite a high altitude, so it is demanding to drive there – both for the cars as well as physically for us drivers.
“I look forward to it, and hopefully we can recover from the bad luck we have had in the last two races. We have a few more chances to score points this season and will push to bring home good results.”
Team-mate Marcus Ericsson arrives in Mexico on the back of a tenth-place finish last weekend, and he is targeting a strong performance and another point’s result as he comes towards the end of his current racing stint with Sauber before he becomes test driver in 2019, with Räikkönen and Antonio Giovinazzi forming next year’s driver line-up.
“The race in Mexico is an exciting one,” admits Ericsson. “The fans are amazing and always add to the magical track. The circuit is interesting and the cars feel very low in grip due to the high altitude, which is a unique challenge.
“[Points] will be my target and I will work hard to have a strong performance there this weekend.”
