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Charles Leclerc says it is up to him to push Ferrari into making a decision over who it favours on the circuit.
Team principal Mattia Binotto has asserted that early on in the season, it will favour Sebastian Vettel if it finds itself in a '50-50' situation.
Leclerc admits that he understands Ferrari's position, but says he needs to prove to the Maranello squad that he is worthy of being the head driver at the team.
"In any team there needs to be a number one and a number two in a 50-50 situation," said Leclerc.
"But then also on my side it's my job then to turn things around. It's not going to be easy, I have a lot to learn, but I'll push for that."
Ferrari insists that Vettel and Leclerc are free to race each other, but says that it will bring in team orders if an "ambiguous" situation arose.
"It's very clear, and Mattia also made it very clear, we are free to race each other," said Vettel. "Charles will do his best to help himself and help the team and that's the same for me.
"We're racing for Ferrari and that means we try to get Ferrari back to where we've been trying to get it back to for the last couple of years.
"That's the main priority. It's a long, long season and I think it's a bit pointless at this point to start pointing out certain scenarios."
Ferrari is targeting the world championship once more, having lost out in the last two years to rivals Mercedes. With Leclerc now onboard, the Monegasque driver feels more mature as he adjusts to his new role.
"I did many weeks in Ferrari [the Maranello factory] to try and get to know as much as possible the team, and also did a small team-building weekend just before coming here, which has been very helpful to know new faces," said Leclerc.
"I definitely feel more mature than last year. I've learned a lot last year, it was a big season, and I will learn many more things. But I feel more ready than last year."
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Replies (1)
Login to replyRam Samartha
Posts: 1,172
I love seeing the youngster coming in and starting to mess with Vettel's head already. He hasn't experienced the in-season pressure side of being at Ferrari yet though, so we'll see how he gets on.