Ferrari has praised Charles Leclerc's performance during his first Grand Prix weekend with the team in Melbourne.
After a winter of growing expectations, it was perhaps to be expected that the Monegasque had a more subdued start, qualifying fifth and finishing fifth.
However, having remained one a more conventional strategy compared to teammate Sebastian Vettel, Leclerc had to be told to stay behind the German in the closing laps.
“I’m happy, I’m happy with the way he’s behaving as a team player,” team boss Mattia Binotto was quoted by Autosport.
“Not only as a driver, he’s very helpful for the team. He is very involved, trying to do his best, pushing the engineers hard to try to get even them to improve themselves and to have a better car.
“If we judge his entire weekend it’s a pretty strong one," he added. "His qualifying wasn’t perfect, he’s aware of it, but I think he drove well also in Q1, Q2.
“Maybe not perfect in Q3, but generally speaking he had a good weekend. His second stint was also performing well.
“I’m happy with the way he’s approached the first race and it’s a good starting point.”
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Vettel also admitted the glimpses of Leclerc's potential served as a reminder of what he can expect in the races to come.
“He’s done really well from what I’ve seen so far, he will put a lot of pressure on me the whole season," he commented. “I’m aware of that and I think it will be very close.
“I’m sure we’ll have tough and tight battles this year, but more than anything I hope we have a lot of fun together.”
