Charles Leclerc is positive that Ferrari will keep up with Red Bull in the relentless development of their all new cars in pursuit of the world championship.

The Italian team have fallen short with development in recent years but they have started strongly this season taking advantage of Red Bull’s quick but unreliable car.

The Ferrari F1-75 has been ultra competitive in 2022 as Leclerc enjoys a commanding 34 point lead over Mercedes driver George Russell with reigning world champion Max Verstappen in P6 in the Drivers’ Standings.

Leclerc said in the FIA post race press conference in Australia: “There is no reason for us to be on the backfoot because we've done a great job, or the guys at Maranello have done a great job, building up this car for this year.

“There are some developments coming and I'm confident that it will go in the right direction.

“So yeah, I am confident that the team can do a great job with development this year.”

The 24-year-old also explained that Red Bull will be tough to beat but he has full faith in Ferrari to stay ahead of the Austrian team: And then to keep up with Red Bull in terms of development is going to be difficult, but yeah, it's the same team that did this car, that will work on the development for this year’s car, so I am confident.”

He has had great success winning four Grands Prix in his young career but hasn’t yet had the car to challenge for the F1 crown.

That could all change in 2022 with the F1-75 that has looked the class of the field in the opening  three races.

Leclerc shed light on how his outlook has changed due to the strong pace of his Ferrari this season. “Obviously, the mindset is a bit different compared to the last two years because now I know that underneath me I've got a car that is capable of winning and I don't really have to overdo things or to do something extremely special and spectacular to actually get one or two positions because I know that it's in the car and I just have to do the job. So the mindset is a little bit different this year.”