Ferrari’s Charles Leclerc holds high expectations ahead of the 2022 Formula 1 season.

The Monegasque last year finished seventh in last year’s world drivers’ championship with 159 points and two pole positions to his name.

He played a key role in helping Ferrari rebound to third in the constructors’ title race after the Scuderia slumped to its worst season in four decades in 2020.

Ironically, that performance has paid dividends heading into the new season, offering the Italian marque more time in the wind tunnel versus rivals such as Mercedes, Red Bull, and McLaren.

That’s seen it deliver a car with a number of intriguing developments, including intricately sculpted sidepods.

An update is also coming on the power unit front, building on work done in the back half of last season.

“Of course expectations are high because we are Ferrari, we are a team that is expected to win all the time,” said Leclerc of the coming campaign.

“What makes me confident about this year’s car, I think, is the work that I’ve seen in the past few months.

“That’s been absolutely incredible by the whole team.

“It’s been a long time that we’ve been working on this car now, and I can see how well we’ve been working, so that gives me the confidence for the future.

“But it’s never easy to know until you are really on track at the first qualifying of the year and see the final picture.

“But yeah, the feeling is good, everyone is extremely motivated and I’m also extremely motivated to be back in the car and to finally drive this beautiful car.”

On paper, Ferrari heads into the coming year among the favourites, and is widely considered an outside chance of springing a surprise.

Should it prove a title contender, it would put both Leclerc and team-mate Carlos Sainz in a new position.

But while neither has battled for the championship in Formula 1, they’re not expected to change their approach should that prove the case this time around.

“At the moment, I believe that if the challenge arrives tomorrow, I’m ready to take it,” said Sainz of the possibility of a title bid.

“I have the qualities to take it and I think we are both going to give it our best shot, and we are going to be ready for it.”

Leclerc is already a race winner, claiming victory twice during the second half of the 2019 season, his first with Ferrari.

“From me, 2019 I’ve had the chance that in some races we were actually capable of fighting for the win, which was very, very exciting,” he said.

“But at the end, the approach doesn’t change whether it’s 2019 when I had a car to fight for the win sometimes, or in 2020 and 2021 which were two years that were a bit more difficult for the team, and that we weren’t fighting for the top position.

“The mental state that I am in is basically the same,” he added.

“You always try to extract the maximum out of yourself to achieve the best result, and I think that’s the exact same approach I’ll have in case we have the car to fight for the championship.”

Following the launch of the F1-75 last Thursday, Ferrari was on track in Fiorano on Friday, completing a ‘demonstration run’, limited to 15km of running.

A promotional day is planned for Tuesday in Barcelona where it can complete 100km.

Pre-season testing then begins on the following day with the first of two pre-season tests.