‘You can brake so much later, and you arrive 50kph faster’ – Leclerc on getting to grips with F3

PREMA Racing’s Arthur Leclerc says he’s excited to be back competing in front of Formula 1 eyeballs, including his brother Charles, as he gets set to make his debut this weekend with the Italian team.

Leclerc got his first taste of Formula 3 machinery at Barcelona back in October last year and has since racked up eight-days’ worth of testing time in his bid to get up to speed with the third tier.

Joining as the Formula Regional European vice-champion, the Monegasque says there are a number of differences between the two cars.

“In regional, you don’t have very much aero, and the car is really heavy,” Leclerc began. “The speed that you can carry into the high-speed sections and the braking zones in Formula 3 is really, really powerful.

“At corners, you can brake so much later than in regional and you arrive 50kph faster. So far, I have just focused on getting experience in the car and learning the car as much as possible. I think we did some good work during the four days.

“We will see tomorrow in Free Practice how things go. I am really excited. Even more so because you are with F1 on their race weekends. That is really exciting, and I am looking forward to tomorrow.”

Leclerc will benefit from the continuity of stepping up with PREMA, the team who led him to six wins and 15 podiums in Formula Regional last year. He’ll also be able to lean on a pair of experienced teammates in Dennis Hauger and Ollie Caldwell.

“I was with PREMA last year, so I know the team pretty well. I know all of the people here and that is really helpful,” Leclerc continued. “PREMA are a top team and I feel really grateful to be here.

“I think I can learn a lot from my two teammates as well. They have already done a year of F3, so they will be great to learn from. At the moment, I am just trying to pick up as much as possible. Hopefully, I will see a big improvement across the weekend.”