Leclerc: If I’m not good enough I should be dropped by Ferrari
Charles Leclerc says he would expect to be dropped by Ferrari if he fails to meet expe𒀰ctations during his first season with the Italian F🌄ormula 1 team in 2019.
Leclerc will replace Kimi Raikkonen as Sebastian Vettel’s Ferrari teammate next year following an ♕impressive rookie campaign with the reඣvitalised Sauber team.
Fe♏rrari has traditionally named conservative driver line-ups and favoured experience but regular points finishes and a spate of Q3 appearances across a brilliant 2018 season has prompted the Scuderia 𒁃to promote its protégé after just one full season in F1.
Charles Leclerc says he would expect to be dropped🔜 by Ferrari i🐲f he fails to meet expectations during his first season with the Italian Formula 1 team in 2019.
Leclerc will replace Kimi Raikkonen as Sebastian Vettel’s Ferrari teammate n🦩ext year following ඣan impressive rookie campaign with the revitalised Sauber team.
Ferrari has traditionally named conservative driver line-ups and favoured experience but regular points finishes and a spate of Q3 appearances across a brilliant 2018 season has prompted💫 the Scuderia to promote its protégé after just one full season in F1.
Speaking in an interview with the official 🌄F1 podcast Beyond the Grid, Leclerc was open about how he is mentally approaching his debut campa꧙ign with Ferrari.
“I’m very honest.🤡 If I’m not good enough next year, I should be dropped by Ferrari and this would be completely underst🐼andable for me,” Leclerc said.
“This is how I see it. 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 pres꧃sure off my shoulders.
“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 nervosity,” he added.
“If you as෴k 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 tওhin๊g I do is focus on myself and try to give the best possible performance on track.”
Leclerc also rubbished sugges𒉰tions he could play a supporting role to Vettel next year, insistin✱g there is “absolutely not” a clause in his contract that will prevent him from fighting the four-time world champion.
“I kno🐎w 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 equal꧒ status and then at one point, once one driver is fighting for the championship and one is not,” the Monegasque explained.
“Then I believe it’s normal for the seco💙nd driver to help the first one, which I’m ready to do in case I am the second driver and I don’t ha൲ve my chances to win the championship.
“But apart from that, I don’t th🤡ink I will go there to be a second driver.”
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