Alfa Romeo boss Fred Vasseur admits he was surprised by how quickly Charles Leclerc settled into his seat at Ferrari.
The Monegasque showed glimpses of his potential in his rookie season with the team last year, when they were known as Sauber.
That earned him an unexpectedly quick call-up to the Scuderia, where he was already a junior driver, and he has rarely looked out of place, proving more than a match for four-time champion Sebastian Vettel.
“I did not expect that Charles would settle in at Ferrari so quickly,” Vasseurwas quoted as having told French broadcaster Canal Plus.
“Everything seems a bit more difficult for Vettel. Both of them are under pressure from Mercedes but Leclerc is coping with it better.”
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Indeed, while his performance has been strong, Ferrari has struggled having seen three potential race wins taken from their grasp and now face a growing threat from Max Verstappen and Red Bull.
Vasseur though is in impressed with how Leclerc has risen to that challenge, including a run of four straight podiums between Canada and Silverstone.
“Charles had a great first half of the season,” the Frenchman declared. “Of course, that was not the case at every race, but I’m not talking about his crash in Germany.
“Last weekend also ended badly for both of the Mercedes drivers, the last two corners were very slippery and many made mistakes.
“But from the beginning of the weekend he (Leclerc) looked fast enough even to be on pole,” he noted, “And he also performed strongly in the three or four Grands Prix before it.”