Charles Leclerc has urged Ferrari not to "overdo things" at the team's first home race at Imola this weekend.

The Monegasque has had a near-perfect start to the 2022 Formula 1 season, scoring 71 out of a possible 78 points with two wins, a second and three fastest laps to his name.

Unsurprisingly, that means he and Ferrari head to the first Sprint event of the year at the Emilia Romagna Grand Prix as favourites, with Leclerc also expecting a fanatical home crowd.

“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 of the expectations the Tifosi will have at Imola.

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“Obviously, it’s good to be in the lead of the championship, 34 points [advantage] is always good to take wherever you are in the calendar but, yeah, I don’t want to focus too much on the championship for now.

“Italy will be incredible, but we need to approach the race weekend, just like we approached the first three weekends," the 24-year-old noted.

“I think it’s extremely important not to put on ourselves extra pressure and not try to overdo things because we are working, I think, as a team extremely well since the beginning of the season and yeah, we just need to keep doing our job, just like we did in the first three weekends."

After a commanding victory in Australia, Leclerc began to acknowledge the possibility of a championship bid this season.

And though he has won for Ferrari in Italy before, famously at Monza in 2019, he is enjoying the reduced pressure that comes with a more competitive car.

“To be in this situation in Formula 1 means a lot, and especially after the last few years, and especially with a team like Ferrari,” he said. “So it feels incredible.

“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.

“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."