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Leclerc dominant while Sainz struggles

Heading into the first of Ferrari’s two home races leading the championship, Charles Leclerc says Ferrari must not “overdo it” nor put undue pressure on their shoulders.

The last time Ferrari raced at home with one of their drivers on top of the standings was in 2017 when Sebastian Vettel was seven points up on Lewis Hamilton going into the Italian Grand Prix.

He left the Monza race track trailing the Mercedes driver, never regained the lead and finished second in the Drivers’ Championship.

This season there is absolutely no chance of Leclerc not leading the standings after the Imola race, no matter the outcome.

With a 34-point advantage over George Russell, he is guaranteed to be P1 at the end of the Emilia Romagna Grand Prix.

But, having won two of this year’s opening three races, Ferrari’s tifosi are expecting more from Leclerc, they want a win on home soil such as the one he managed in 2019 at Monza.

“Oh, yeah, I can imagine it, but I don’t want to think about it too much because it’s still very early in the season,” he said when asked about the tifosi’s excitement ahead of the Imola race.

“Obviously, it’s good to be in the lead of the championship, I think I lead by 37 or 34 points. 34 – it’s OK.

“34 points is always good to take wherever you are in the calendar but, yeah, I don’t want to