Ferrari Majesty urges Charles Leclerc to ‘grow’ and compete against ‘incredibly fast’ Max Verstappen

Piero Ferrari, son of Enzo Ferrari, feels Charles Leclerc is potentially as fast as Max Verstappen but not yet as mature. Ferrari shared his views in a recent interview with Autosprint, in which he also touched upon various aspects of the sport.

Charles Leclerc has had a rocky start to the 2023 F1 season. Although the Monegasque driver has been impressive in spells, it has been interspersed with some rather disappointing moments. In the first five races alone, Leclerc has had as many as three major crashes.

Speaking about his lead driver, Piero Ferrari said:

“Charles has the speed to be equal to Verstappen," Ferrari said. "But he has less experience, in terms of number of GPs. Leclerc can still grow, he will grow. We have not yet seen his true full potential, we are waiting for it."

Talking about Max Verstappen, Ferrari said:

“He is incredibly fast. He was already driving in F1 when he didn’t even have a driver’s licence in his possession. I was there when he got his first victory in Barcelona. He made his mistakes after that, his accidents. Now he is young and already has a lot of experience. He is a great driver who is now at the peak of his career.”

"I think he’s rather stuck at Ferrari" - Damon Hill on Charles Leclerc

Former F1 driver Damon Hill has opined that Charles Leclerc is "stuck" at Ferrari for the time being.

Speaking on the Sky Sports F1 podcast, Hill said:

"I think he’s rather stuck at Ferrari for a bit. He’s never really been in an extended campaign for the championship. There have always been moments that it’s been good and then they’ve faded, and he’s also had these blots on his copybook with qualifying, the banzai lap that goes wrong and stuff."

He added:

“When you look around at the top teams and who they have in their teams, they’re probably content with what they’ve got at the moment. I’m not sure that there’s anywhere else for him to go."

Charles Leclerc will take part in his home race at Monaco this weekend and will be determined to put together a strong show for the fans and his team.