Ferrari vice chairman: Leclerc reminiscent of Lauda

Ferrari vice-chairman Piero Ferrari has claimed Charles Leclerc's start to his career at Maranello, is reminscent of the late Niki Lauda.

Leclerc was signed by Ferrari after impressing in his rookie season at Sauber in 2018. The youngster replaced the veteran Kimi Raikkonen - who made the switch to Alfa Romeo (formerly Sauber).

The Monegasque driver is yet to win a race with Ferrari but came extremely close on Sunday before eventually being overtaken by Max Verstappen with a few laps to go. Leclerc has recorded two pole positions and looked strong in both races, but an engine failure in Bahrain was costly, and Verstappen's speed was too much for the youngster in Austria.

"Do you know who he reminded me of in Spielberg? A young Niki Lauda," Piero told II Resto del Carlino newspaper. "(Alain) Prost, Schumi (Michael Schumacher), (Fernando) Alonso and (Sebastian) Vettel arrived in Maranello already as world champions, but Leclerc is following the path of Niki. He is already a guarentee for Ferrari.