May the Formula 1 gods be with us this season longer than they were in 2021 as Charles Leclerc prepares for round 2 against the mighty Red Bull and Max Verstappen. After suffering setbacks, the Monegasque is out to avenge, for which he, like the majority of the drivers on the grid, underwent extensive training during the off-season to prepare himself both physically and mentally.

Leclerc this time went to a training camp in Italy at Val Gardena in the Dolomites, where he also underwent high-altitude training. The camp was set up among the snowy areas where the Ferrari driver could test his maximum limits as he did everything from cross-country skiing to ice rally driving, which really had fans worried.

Speaking about his experiences during the training and skiing, Leclerc said, while speaking on the F1: Beyond the Grid podcast, “I’m really careful going downhill, but it was very hard training. But I absolutely loved it. So we did the ski touring, so that’s going uphill, and I actually enjoyed it for the first time in my life. In the past, I used to hate it. There’s no speed, no adrenaline.”

“And this I love. This I love because it’s great for physical training. You also have an upper body or you’re using your legs to push yourself up. You use your legs a lot more than I thought. The legs are super important to us, actually, to climb. And at first, I was only using my arms, so after ten minutes, I was completely dead,” he added as he talked about ice climbing as a part of the training, which pushed his body to the maximum.

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This snippet also provided an insight into the driver’s stringent regime that goes behind the scenes and is very much an integral part of the sport that most of the fans oversee.

Charles Leclerc learns from his struggles

Charles Leclerc has been in F1 for five full seasons and is entering the sixth. And over the years, his skills have only improved, which has made him one of the contenders for the drivers’ championship.

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In his pre-season video, speaking about his struggles and learnings, he said, “I think I mature. Every season you do in Formula 1 you learn new things, so you change as a driver. Whether there is a particular change where I was like, ‘OK, this I need to change,’ not really. It’s just small improvements. After every mistake, you learn and you grow, so I’m more mature, but there’s not been a particular change, no.”

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Leclerc’s training video made viewers sweat. The regime that the driver underwent ahead of the car launches and media duties must help him cruise through the season.