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Charles Leclerc has seemingly impressed everyone on the F1 grid with his scintillating form at the start of the season. One of the latest admirers of the Ferrari driver is former F1 driver Christian Klien.
The Austrian felt that Leclerc's track record before this season was proof enough of the Ferrari driver's talent as he had beaten Sebastian Vettel in his first year in the team. He said:
“[Charles] Leclerc already showed what he can do against Sebastian Vettel at Ferrari at the beginning of his career. Okay, Carlos Sainz is also good. But now the car is good enough to win, Leclerc’s exceptional talent comes to the fore. It’s like [Max] Verstappen, he has that quality too."
The only blip on the Ferrari driver's track record this season so far has been the loss to Max Verstappen in Saudi Arabia. Other than that, Leclerc has won the other two races and made sure he secured the fastest lap in all three races.
Klien made direct comparisons of Charles Leclerc's driving to that of reigning champion Max Verstappen. Both the Red Bull and the Ferrari drivers have battled in the first three races of the season. While Leclerc prevailed in Bahrain, it was Verstappen who snatched the victory in Saudi Arabia.
It was these battles that made Klien realize that both the drivers were capable of performing at a similar level. He went on to add, saying:
“I think driving-wise, Leclerc is on a similar level as Verstappen. I’m thinking of the races in Bahrain or Jeddah.”
It remains to be seen whether the Monegasque can emulate the reigning world champion in achieving a title for himself as well.
Charles Leclerc is ready to fight for the title
Christian Klien concluded that Charles Leclerc had shown that he was more than capable of fighting for the title this season with his early-season form. Having said that, Klien also cautioned against the team getting carried away because, in the past, such gaps early in the season have been overhauled.
The former Red Bull driver said:
“You can definitely see Charles is ripe to have a say in the title. Leclerc can now draw on his considerable lead in the World Championship standings. But there have been years in Formula 1 when big gaps have been closed.”
Charles Leclerc currently leads the championship with 71 points in his tally, while his main competitor Max Verstappen is further behind with only 25 points to this name. The gap between the two drivers would have been much different had Verstappen not suffered DNFs in the first and third races. At the moment, the Ferrari driver is the runaway favorite in the championship.
