Leclerc: "He was even more entitled to the Ferrari seat than I was."

Charles Leclerc was recently taken by Daniel Ricciardo as "the slower version of Jules Bianchi". According to Leclerc, the driver who died in 2015 was indeed an extreme talent. The Ferrari driver even thinks that his deceased benchmark deserved the seat he's sitting on now, more than himself.

The eight years older godfather of Leclerc experienced a similar racing career as the Ferrari driver. Bianchi seemed on his way to a brilliant career and a contract with Scuderia Ferrari. In the 2015 Japanese GP, however, he lost his life in a tragic accident.

RTLnieuws quotes Leclerc: "Jules' father and my father always joked that our careers were so similar. When we both had to race and he had a bad race, for example, I had a bad race too that weekend. Nicholas, my manager, had more or less the same plan for both of us, so the similarities are not that striking.

Bianchi extreme talent

In a flaming Formula 1 debut season with the Sauber team, the young Monegask was able to impress to such an extent that he was one of the youngest Ferrari drivers ever to start the following year at the Scuderia. That's where Leclerc convinced the audience of his talent. An opportunity his godfather never had but which he definitely was entitled to.

Leclerc: "There was definitely more to come for Bianchi. He absolutely deserved a seat in Formula 1. I think he was even more entitled to the Ferrari seat than I was. Unfortunately it turned out differently, but I'm sure he would have shown even more than I did. His talent was extreme."