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Charles Leclerc and his move to Ferrari has been one of the biggest stories of 2018. The 21-year-old Monégasque driver managed to impress the Scuderia officials and managed to secure a seat at Ferrari for 2019.
Leclerc will be replacing Kimi Raikkonen as the second driver for Ferrari in the 2019 season and will be facing immense pressure from the Ferrari Fanbase. Though the Monégasque driver has claimed that he is not feeling any nervousness:
I’m not a nervous person, there are tensions in this sport and at the start, there is adrenaline, but I would not say it is nervousness. If you ask me about the pressure, I think I can handle this because I have a mentality that I don’t feel the pressure at all. I know lots of people say, ‘yeah but the pressure in Ferrari is on another level’, but my mentality allows me to take of all the pressure. I don’t really take into consideration what people are expecting from me. The only thing I do is focus on myself and try to give the best possible performance on track.
Leclerc seemed quite confident and 'ready to tackle'. In the post-race interview when he was asked that if things do not go according to his planning and expectation, he gave a smirk on his face and gave a quite strong statement
If I’m not good enough next year, I should be dropped by Ferrari and this would be completely understandable for me. This is how I see it. I’m also very honest. If I’m good enough, I deserve to stay there. If I’m not, I deserve to be left off and I think that takes a lot of pressure off my shoulders.
Then he was asked regarding his relationship with Vettel. Would he battle him out? On which he answered:
I know lots of people are thinking this and me saying that won’t change what people think. But as in every team, you start the year on an equal status and then at one point, once one driver is fighting for the championship and one is not. Then I believe it’s normal for the second driver to help the first one, which I’m ready to do in case I am the second driver and I don’t have my chances to win the championship. But apart from that, I don’t think I will go there to be a second driver.
Quite straightforward and open. Let's see what 2019 is bringing for us.
