Leclerc underestimated Australian GP circuit before practice

The rookie anchored the timesheets both times out today, finishing eight tenths off Sauber teammate Marcus Ericsson in FP1 before slimming the margin right down to 0.001s in the second session.

Reflecting on the drastic improvement in relation to the other Sauber, Leclerc admitted that he was caught out by the tricky Albert Park layout first time around.

"I didn't do a good time this morning, it was a little better this afternoon," he said.

"I'm more and more confident with the track. It's not easy – I thought it was easier. It looked quite simple but when you drive it, it's not that easy."

In terms of pace Leclerc conceded that Sauber has work to do, despite also claiming the day was a positive one.

"It's a rather positive day for me," he said.

"We're trying to work on the car to try and come back as we're quite far, even very far. We need to keep working, but it's a rather positive day for me."

Ericsson echoed Leclerc's thoughts, taking positives from what was a tough day in terms of outright speed.

“It was a positive day – we completed a lot of laps testing different compounds," he said.

"We continued developing our understanding of the new car, building on what we learned during winter testing.

"We still have lots of work ahead of us to get to where we want to be. Today’s sessions were good in preparing us for the rest of the weekend."

Additional reporting by Erwin Jaeggi and Benjamin Vinel