Charles Leclerc denies being selfish at Ferrari, insisting he and Sebastian Vettel remain on good terms.
To many, the Monegasque is creating a shift in the balance of power within the Italian team thanks to two victories at Spa and Monza which saw his four-time world champion teammate struggle.
However, asked if he considered himself now as the lead driver at Ferrari, Leclerc insisted he and Vettel still worked collaboratively.
“I’ve never felt that way,” he said on Thursday in Singapore. “I think overall the team inside of it, I don’t know if from the outside if it looks different, but from the inside, it’s very balanced.
“There have been situations in the past where I’ve helped Sebastian, some others where he has helped me. I think that’s the way forward for the team.
“The team is doing everything for its own benefit and that is the most important thing. We are here to perform at our best, which is what we try to do, but in the end I’m very happy with how the team is at the moment.”
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Leclerc also denied that he was focusing too much on himself and his own performance at the expense of Vettel.
“No, I think to be a team player always pays off at the end of the day,” he stated.
“The team is doing everything for us and if you have one driver who is an egotist and just looks at himself, it’s not great.
“There might be some situations where you have to look at yourself but I think you just need to find the right balance.”
As for whether the situation in qualifying back in Italy had caused any rift between himself and Vettel, the 22-year-old was clear.
“I think I’ve already in Monza, it was a very tricky situation at the beginning of the lap with the big mess. It made us quite late to go to the finish line but there was definitely no intention from me to sacrifice Seb’s second lap or whatever,” Leclerc declared.
“I don’t think it changed [our relationship]. Obviously, after Saturday there were some doubts about what I did but I explained myself and since then everything was fine.”