Leclerc compared with Verstappen: "Max also made a lot of mistakes before"

Charles Leclerc is having a great season with a Ferrari team that last year struggled to finish in the top ten. This year it's a lot easier and the team can fight for third place in the Constructors' Championship.

Leclerc has plenty of talent, but still makes some mistakes every now and then. According to experienced engineer Jock Clear he can certainly compete for championships in the future. He explained this in the Beyond the Grid podcast.

"My first reaction is, 'God yes, he's absolutely ready'. You have to balance that with the fact that there's no substitute for actually being in that position of 'Oh my God, I could win a championship here'. That's a different level of pressure."

Leclerc compared to Verstappen

And not necessarily because they are the same kind of drivers or generation, but because Verstappen also made mistakes early in his career. The Dutchman has since moved on from that.

"Yes, he (Leclerc) has made mistakes. People might say, 'He made a lot of mistakes in his first year'. Yes he did, but all drivers are going to make mistakes. Max made a lot of mistakes in his earlier career, but nobody tells me Max is not ready to win a championship." Clear thinks he can compete with Hamilton and Verstappen if Ferrari have the car to do so.

"If he is put in a position where he can fight for a championship, then it will be against Max, then it will be against Lewis [Hamilton]. It's going to be tough. You're going to make a mistake, make a mistake, miss points. Will he be able to handle that? Yes, he can absolutely deal with that. He won't break down if he misses out in qualifying and has to start from P13 or so. He'll swallow it, deal with it and come back the next race and put it on pole."

Maybe we're going to see this scenario as early as next year, when many things in F1 are going to change and we're entering a new era of racing.