Charles Leclerc believes his best chance to avoid Ferrari using team orders is to perform at a high level.

While there is a lot of excitement ahead of the Monegasque's debut with the Scuderia, team boss Mattia Binotto sent a signal that teammate Sebastian Vettel would remain the "priority" driver in terms of a championship challenge.

“That was not news to me and I don’t think Mattia said anything exaggerated,” Leclerc said in response on Thursday. “I already knew it would be like that for a while.

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"For me, it’s only logical and understandable. I’m new to Ferrari so it’s clear that one driver is preferred in a 50-50 situation. That’s what he said, and I totally understand that it’s Vettel."

Leclerc, however, made it clear: "But that does not mean it always has to be that way. My job is to be so fast that no team order is necessary.”

On his final day inside the Ferrari ahead of the Australian Grand Prix, the 21-year-old sent a warning with a new best time of 1m16.231s and followed that up by claiming there was still 'some margin' for improvement to come.