Charles Leclerc would fully expect Ferrari to drop him if he failed to produce the necessary results in 2019, he has claimed.
The Monegasque has bucked the trend of the Scuderia’s usual strategy of choosing experienced drivers as he will become the youngest racer in red for over half a century next year after just one season in Formula 1.
Considered by most to be future of the Italian team, Leclerc insists he isn’t going to get it easy at Maranello but has also downplayed fears he could be overawed by the pressure.
“I’m very honest. If I’m not good enough next year, I should be dropped by Ferrari and this would be completely understandable for me,” the newly-turned 21-year-old told the Beyond the Grid F1 podcast.
“This is how I see it. If I’m good enough, I deserve to stay there. If I’m not, I deserve to be left off and I think that takes a lot of pressure off my shoulders.
“I’m not a nervous person, there are tensions in this sport and at the start, there is adrenaline, but I would not say it is nervosity.
“If you ask me about the pressure, I think I can handle this because I have a mentality that I don’t feel the pressure at all,” he added. “I know lots of people say, ‘yeah but the pressure in Ferrari is on another level’, but my mentality allows me to take off all the pressure.
“I don’t really take into consideration what people are expecting from me. The only thing I do is focus on myself and try to give the best possible performance on track.”
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Another suggestion some have made is Leclerc is simply joining Ferrari to be the understudy to Sebastian Vettel, at least initially…
“Absolutely not,” he responded. “I know lots of people are thinking this and me saying that won’t change what people think. But as in every team, you start the year on an equal status and then at one point, once one driver is fighting for the championship and one is not.
“Then I believe it’s normal for the second driver to help the first one, which I’m ready to do in case I am the second driver and I don’t have my chances to win the championship.
“But apart from that, I don’t think I will go there to be a second driver [immediately],” Leclerc concluded.
