In 2019 Charles Leclerc made his debut for Ferrari, but from the first moment he was the clear number two to four times world champion and teammate Sebastian Vettel. Next season the 23-year old driver will be accompanied by Carlos Sainz. Leclerc is the absolute leader at Ferrari.
"I don't really feel the difference compared to before," Leclerc says about his role as team leader. His status has changed enormously within a short period of time, but according to Leclerc, not much has changed for himself. "I have to do the same job as I was doing before. At the end, I am here to perform at my best when I am on track and to help the team as much as I can when I am outside the track."
No other treatment Leclerc
The young Monegasque then explains exactly what he means by that. "That's what I was doing before; that's what I will do now. Surely my comments will probably take a bit more weight now that I have a future with the team and they know how long I will stay with them, But it is not like I was not listened to before."
Leclerc can understand that the outside world might take a different view. "From the outside, it can look a bit different but it doesn't feel that different to me," he concludes in conversation with the BBC.