F1 News
"Charles Leclerc has it easier than Sebastian Vettel"
Nicolás Quarles van Ufford
Charles Leclerc has it easier at Ferrari than his teammate Sebastian Vettel - at least, that's what former F1 driver David Coulthard thinks, as he believes Vettel is driving with more pressure at the Italian team.
Ferrari have had an extremely disappointing start to the season, not winning any of the first five Grands Prix despite seeming the quickest car during pre-season.
Vettel has accumulated two podiums and Leclerc one more, leaving the Scuderia second in the constructors' championship behind rivals Mercedes. The gap, however, is a whopping 96 points after five races, with the Silver Arrows taking one-two's in all of those outings.
"Team principal Mattia Binotto is in a difficult position," Coulthard analysed when talking to Auto Bild.
"First he has to keep the damage as low as possible because Mercedes is so superior."
Coulthard sees similarities between Ferrari's current driver situation and Mercedes' situation back in the Rosberg-Hamilton.
"At Ferrari it is similar now. And still it's different for Binotto: At the time, Mercedes were superior and it was clear that one of them [Rosberg or Hamilton] would win. At Ferrari, it is all about whether Vettel or Leclerc is internally in front."
When speaking about the two drivers in question, the former McLaren star explained that life must be easier for Charles Leclerc, as expectations with him aren't the same as for Vettel.
"Sebastian has another goal [than Leclerc]: to make the Ferrari a winning car. So here we are dealing with two different types of pressure. Seb has to win, everything else is not good enough. Charles has it easier. He just has to be faster than Sebastian and prove that he can beat a four-time world champion and has a great future."
Looking ahead, the Scotsman doesn't think it's all doom and gloom for Ferrari, although he does realise how dominant Mercedes are as a team. Can Ferrari turn things around?
"Naturally. They have very good people, they have the budget for that. But the problem is that Mercedes does such a fantastic job."
