Ferrari’s task of handling Charles Leclerc and Sebastian Vettel is “challenging” but not “difficult”, according to Mercedes boss Toto Wolff.
The decision to promote the Monegasque from Sauber has been largely welcomed with expectations the 21-year-old can push Vettel and even motivate him back to his best form.
However, Ferrari team boss Mattia Binotto has already indicated Leclerc’s arrival won’t necessarily see the Scuderia move away from the No.1 and No.2 driver system they have used for quite some time.
“With Leclerc, they have a future champion in the car, and with Sebastian, they have a four-time champion. So I think it’s a luxury problem for them,” Wolff commented at a Petronas event in Italy last Friday.
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As the Austrian pointed out, Mercedes has had the “situation” of dealing with two drivers on an equal footing before, with the Lewis Hamilton/Nico Rosberg pairing threatening to blow the team apart until the latter retired after 2016.
Even so: “Difficult is the wrong word. I think it is better to say challenging,” Wolff said of how he’d describe Ferrari’s new line-up.
“We have it every year, you want to have two competitive drivers to compete for the Constructors’ Championship,” he concluded.