Now with a year of experience together, Sebastian Vettel and Charles Leclerc should enjoy a “much better relationship” in 2020.
Last year saw occasional tensions flare up at the Italian team, as the young Monegasque asserted himself as very much the equal of the four-time world champion, winning twice and finishing ahead in the Drivers’ Championship in his first year at Maranello.
But while that has led to Ferrari having to start this season with effectively two lead drivers, unlike their rivals, 2009 Formula 1 champion Jenson Button believes that actually brings more clarity to the situation.
“When there’s a young gun in your team – we found it with Fernando Alonso and Lewis Hamilton when they were teammates in McLaren [in 2007] – it does hurt the experienced driver a little bit,” Button told Sky Sports.
“But once you get over that and look at him as an equal it’s very different and I think they will work well together.
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“I hope they do because it’s important for the championship,” he noted.
“I think Sebastian now understands how quick his teammate is and I think they’ll have a much better relationship this year.
“They obviously want to beat each other but I do think that pairing is very strong.
“In terms of setting up a car, Sebastian looks very good at doing that. He spends more hours than anyone with the engineers and trying to fine-tune things here and there.”
Last year though did see Vettel & Leclerc’s internal rivalry hurt Ferrari, when both drivers touched in Brazil, taking them out of likely podium finishes.
And with both having the same goal of becoming champion this year, Button does see some pressure falling on team boss Mattia Binotto to control his two drivers.
“They had a few incidents in 2019, hopefully, this year that won’t be the case,” the Briton stated.
“They are both very quick. I think last year they were both trying to find their position in the team.
“Two very talented drivers and I think after that first year together now they can really work as a team and focus on fighting Mercedes, not just fighting each other.
“It’s a tough one, but it needs to be managed well and I don’t think it was maybe at certain points last year within Ferrari.”
For Vettel, there is the added complication of needing to consider his future at Ferrari, with his contract set to expire at the end of the year.
“It’s an important year for him,” Button agreed.
“Last year he got beaten by his teammate on points, this year he’s really got to go out there and show what he can do. If he does, he’ll be fighting for that world championship.”
