Charles Leclerc says he can still learn a lot from Ferrari teammate Sebastian Vettel to address weaknesses for the 2020 Formula 1 season.
Last year saw the Monegasque step up to the plate and take on the four-time world champion in his first year in red, eventually ending the year with more wins, poles and ahead in the Drivers’ Championship.
But while he was dazzling the Tifosi, on the contrary, Vettel was criticised for continued errors and a lack of pace. Even so, Leclerc insists he was and remains the apprentice.
“I learned a lot, really a lot,” Leclerc said at the Autosport International show. “I mean, he’s extremely professional, he’s going a lot into the details and Seb, he’s also a very nice person.
“Things that I never thought will be helpful to the engineers he will say anything. Sometimes I’m just here listening for one hour what he has to say about the session. He’s just very, very interesting.”
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While Leclerc gained an understanding of how Vettel worked with the team, his results forced Ferrari into giving him equal status and while some have voiced concerns over possible tensions, the 22-year-old is confident that won’t happen.
“We were working well together. Obviously, we’ve had our moments on the track in which we’ve learned together, and hopefully, things like in Brazil won’t happen again,” he admitted.
“But in the end, I think we are mature enough out of the car to work together and to try to develop the car in the right way.
“I think the way he’s working with the team and the engineers, I’ve learned a lot and I’ve still got a lot to learn.”
Whatever weaknesses Leclerc has in helping with the development of the car, it doesn’t change the fact that, in all likelihood, he’ll be leading Ferrari’s charge against Mercedes and Red Bull this year, particularly as he’s also working on other areas he felt he was lacking compared to Vettel.
“After the first three, four races, I saw that my weaknesses were more in qualifying than the races,” he explained
“So I focused quite a lot on the qualifying, and I did quite a big step from France onwards in qualifying, which was good to see.
“And then in the race, I think I’ve still got quite a bit of work to do. Seb has a big experience in the races and he’s stronger than me at the moment.
“So my work this winter is mostly on the races, to try and improve that.
“Also, I hope, or at least I’m working extremely hard, to do fewer mistakes than I’ve done in 2019,” Leclerc added. “I think as a team, we also need to focus on that.
“In terms of performance, it is always very, very difficult to know before the first race, but we’ve been working well and we’ll see a bit later on.
“But I feel definitely more ready than at the beginning of 2019 and I hope I’ll be able to prove it on track.”
