Charles Leclerc has made it clear that he is not heading to Ferrari to learn but to challenge. The 20-year-old believes that the team will also allow him to race Sebastian Vettel.
Earlier this week, Ferrari announced that it will bring in Leclerc in place of Kimi Raikkonen at the end of this season. Although Leclerc will become Ferrari's youngest driver since 1961, he expects to be in the same line with Vettel.
“It's more or less like this in every team,” Leclerc said.
“You have two drivers who start the season on equal status and then at one point in the season you see some team orders because probably one driver is playing for the championship and the other is not. This is normal, in every team it's happening. But I believe they will let us race at the beginning of the season,” he said.
The Monaco driver, junior to Vettel by 10 years, agrees there are a lot of questions he will have to answer next season. “This is a big question mark for a lot of people, whether I'm ready or not,” he said.
“Whether I'm ready or not, I can't tell - but I think that if you see Lewis, he arrived the first year and straight away was there (at the top). Experience is always a plus obviously, but if you are good enough on one seat, you are good enough (for a top seat) from the first year you arrive in Formula 1,” the young gun stated.
“And if next year I don't have the results good enough to stay in Ferrari, then it would be normal that I downgrade, but then I don't deserve a Ferrari seat. This is how I see things.”
He insists that he is not heading to Ferrari to learn.
“I need to deliver. I am not going to Ferrari to learn. I've had a very good season this year where I could learn most of it and next year is to perform where I should be once you are going in a big team.”
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