Charles Leclerc, one of the most promising young drivers on the F1 grid, has revealed that he was intimidated by four-time World Champion Sebastian Vettel when he first joined Ferrari in 2019.
“At the beginning of my time at Ferrari, it was different to what I had with my other team-mates because Seb was such a champion,” Leclerc said.
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“Like with Ferrari, I was also intimidated with [by] Seb at first, which is normal, but actually he’s a very normal guy and a very nice guy.
“We have got on very well from the beginning. There is a competitiveness that plays a role in the relationship but that never changes the way we speak to each other. That was a good thing.”
Continuing, he noted that there were “moments that were a bit more difficult”, such as the 2019 Brazilian Grand Prix which saw the team-mates make contact in the race, but Leclerc believes they handled the situation “quite well.”
Leclerc, who’s only in his third season in Formula One, has consistently outperformed Vettel so far this year.
He signed a new five-year contract with Ferrari towards the end of 2019 and he is currently the team’s number one driver, though it remains to be seen if incoming team-mate Carlos Sainz will be able to change this.
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