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The Scuderia drafted in Leclerc to replace Kimi Raikkonen in the off-season, and while the Monegasque trails his four-time champion teammate Sebastian Vettel in the points, he has delivered five of Ferrari’s 11 podiums and has not qualified behind Vettel since Canada.
Hoewel Leclerc vijfde staat in de tussenstand, zorgde hij wel voor vijf van de elf podiums van Ferrari, en doet hij niet per se onder voor Sebastian Vettel. Maar dat zagen we al luid en duidelijk in Bahrein, toen hij heel brutaal de koppositie van de Duitser overnam. Zijn teambaas Mattia Binotto is in zijn nopjes: “If I look at the first half of the season, I think [it’s] very positive, the way how Charles is growing”, aldus de bebrilde Italiaan tegen Motorsport.
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“Because there was a lot of expectations at first, a lot of pressure on him, on his shoulders, because obviously driving a Ferrari is driving a Ferrari, and [especially] while you are so young. He's a talent, we knew it, but I think he's really learning from mistakes and that's more important. Even his collaboration with the team, his way of supporting the team in the development of the car, is improving race by race, day by day, that's another positive of the first half. We knew that he was a talent, we knew that he was very strong when attacking or defending, because we could've seen that in F3 [GP3] and F2."
Lang verhaal kort: Ferrari heeft er geen spijt van dat het eindelijk eens een beetje risico heeft genomen door een jong talent in de auto te zetten. Wellicht waren ze geïnspireerd door Max Verstappens succesverhaal bij Red Bull. Een cynicus zou kunnen zeggen dat het optreden van Sebastian Vettel, die niet bepaald in een bloedvorm verkeert, het Leclerc ook wel erg makkelijk maakt om uit te blinken. Maar wij zijn positieve mensen, dus we zouden zoiets nooit zeggen.
Vettel zelf krijgt ook nog even een veer in de poeperd van Binotto, over hoe hij zijn usurpator-in-spe ontvangt: “He's dealing well with Charles, they are two good teammates. He is very smart, he is very motivated, and I think that even for him it could've been a lot more difficult, that start to the season, but overall I think he knows how good he can be, and he's smart enough to understand the entire situation. “I think he's still very supportive with the team, with himself, and he knows that he is an important pillar of our team for the present and for the future.”