Sauber driver Charles Leclerc has received a big vote of confidence from Ferrari driver and possible future teammate Sebastian Vettel ahead of his first Monaco GP.
The Monte Carlo native made a steady start to life on the Formula 1 grid but, after altering his driving style, has been on quite the roll with his first two points finishes coming in Baku and Barcelona.
Now arguably comes his biggest test to not only survive his first race in Monaco as a rookie but to do so as the local favourite with expectations of a good result.
Speaking on Wednesday though, Vettel was asked about the rise of the Ferrari junior and made his support for Leclerc very clear.
“I think the hype is absolutely justified,” said the German. “If there is no hype around him then I don’t understand who can be hyped.
“If you walk through all the categories like that (as he did winning GP3 and F2 at the first attempt) then you belong here.”
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Historically, the Scuderia has never been the most trusting in terms of giving their young drivers a chance to prove themselves inside a Prancing Horse but the four-time world champion absolutely sees no reason why the Monegasque can’t buck that trend.
“I’m not signing who’s sitting next to me, probably you should ask [team boss] Maurizio [Arrivabene], but I don’t see why not,” he said.
“Obviously he has more years. The races he had so far, he used his opportunities and scored points with a car that doesn’t belong in the points so he’s doing everything he can at the moment.”
Perhaps prematurely, but Leclerc’s recent results have already earned him comparisons to legends such as Ayrton Senna and Michael Schumacher, however, the 20-year-old is not getting ahead of himself.
“Of course it’s a great honour to be associated with those names already but I try to ignore this sort of thing because I still have a lot to learn in F1,” he told Swiss outlet Blick.
