Charles Leclerc warns of 'enemy hands' intervention at 'critical' F1 moment

Charles Leclerc has warned that "enemy hands" could disrupt F1 drivers at "critical" moments during grands prix, despite all of the extensive simulations and testing.

As drivers continue to get to grips with the new generation of cars, with just three days of testing remaining, concerns have been raised about the energy management demands, and over race starts.

The new 50-50 split in power output from the internal combustion engine and batteries means drivers must protect their energy to a greater extent than ever before, as new challenges are being encountered over race starts.

Drivers must now manually spool up the turbo for around 10 seconds to eliminate lag, but risk over-revving the engine and putting too much charge through the system in the fine balancing act. 

Leclerc, who set the fastest lap on Day 2 of the first Bahrain test predicts there will be "chaos" in the opening rounds, as he explained why "enemy hands" will have a major part to play.

"I expect some chaos early on, and overtaking is going to be a big challenge," Leclerc told media, including RacingNews365.

"I think there are still many question marks, yes, we are trying to simulate as many situations as possible. 

"But nothing will simulate the unpredictability that you find yourself in where there is a race, and you are not in control anymore of your line, of the way you drive, of your speed traces, because you are a bit in your enemy's hands, but it is the same for everybody.

"There are a lot of question marks, and I think the start is one of those as well. We are working a lot on that, like everybody, but it is one of those very critical moments of a race, and there might be some surprising things in the first start of the season."