Ferrari CEO Louis Camilleri claims a driver like Charles Leclerc only comes “every 10 years” as he praised his first year in red.
The Monegasque became the youngest racer for the Italian team in half a century, with his promotion from Sauber breaking Ferrari’s typical approach to their line-ups in recent decades.
And their decision paid off with Leclerc ultimately finishing fourth in the Drivers’ standings, ahead of his four-time world champion teammate Sebastian Vettel.
“Drivers like Charles come up every 10 years or so,” Camilleri told the Financial Times.
“He’s incredibly talented, focused and mature for his age. He’s very grounded, he’s improving, he has learnt from Seb and he would admit that. He has everything it takes, incredible talent.”
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Something that became clear during the season is how hard Leclerc is on himself and that was evident again as he weighed up his 2019 campaign.
“It’s not been an easy season. The first part we have been struggling but I think we’ve been working well and I think the hard work paid off on the second part of the season with two incredible wins,” he reflected.
“Obviously Monza is something that was beyond all of my dreams. To be on top of that podium with thousands of Ferrari fans was absolutely crazy. These experiences I will never forget them this first year I will never forget it.
“Then again, I’ve still got a lot of work to do to get better. I’ve made too many mistakes, threw away too many points,” he added to Auto Motor und Sport.
“I will analyse all of them now to understand it.”