Charles Leclerc’s ability to out-perform his 2020 Ferrari is akin to Michael Schumacher and Lewis Hamilton, Ross Brawn claims.
The Monegasque has qualified in the top five at three of the past four races, and last Sunday at Portimao, scored his best result since Silverstone in fourth.
Leclerc has also outclassed teammate Sebastian Vettel for much of the year and currently has over four times the number of points of the German.
So after his impressive performance in Portugal, which saw him within half a second of pole and half a minute clear of the midfield pack in the race, he was singled out for praise by the current Formula 1 motorsport chief.
“It was another very strong performance from Charles and he continues to give Ferrari motivation for next year after what has been a very challenging campaign so far,” said Brawn in his Formula1.com column.
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“The team will know that when they are able to give him a more competitive car, he will deliver the results.
“A driver can go two ways when faced with a difficult car. It can demotivate them, their performances start to drop away and it helps nobody. It’s a double whammy.
“Or a driver can do what Charles has done and dig even deeper and find extra performance that helps subsidise the team when things aren’t so great.
“Through that process, when he does get the car underneath him, he will be a stronger driver.”
Brawn then went on to claim that ability Leclerc has shown is something only the very best can do.
“I often felt with Michael, there were races he won which he shouldn’t have won because the car wasn’t good enough but he managed to find a way to win, that’s what makes a World Champion,” he said.
“Lewis has demonstrated that. He’s got a great car now, but I recall him winning races when the car wasn’t a top performer. And Charles is doing similar at Ferrari right now.”
Commenting on his recent gains in performance, the 23-year-old admitted upgrades to the SF1000 have better suited his approach.
“I feel quite at ease with the car at the moment,” said Leclerc.
“We’ve brought some updates, but they always went in the right direction for my driving style and this helped me to perform better on tracks.
“So sure I feel like I’ve improved since last year, and I feel I’m driving well, but I just keep focusing on myself and try to improve myself races after races. And for now, it seems to work pretty well.”