Ferrari confirmed that if necessary, priority will be given to Sebastian Vettel over Charles Leclair - even at the beginning of the season.
Historically, the Ferrari team has never been shy about using team tactics. Sebastian Vettel in recent seasons has sometimes - though not always - had a better strategy in the races than his team-mate Kimi Raikkonen.
In 2018, Ferrari found itself under fire of criticism - against the background, on the one hand, of Raikkonen's strong chagrin from vague and indistinct instructions from the command bridge at the German Grand Prix, and on the other, against the background of the Finn's permission to fight Vettel at the start in Monza. although at that moment the fate of the title was not yet finally decided.
This policy was used by Ferrari against the backdrop of a strict hierarchy at Mercedes, where Valtteri Bottas let Lewis Hamilton in at the request of the team.
From 2019, instead of Raikkonen, Charles Leclair will be behind the wheel of the prize Ferrari car. Many believe that Leclerc will be more serious competition for Vettel than Kimi Raikkonen.
New Ferrari boss Mattia Binotto has confirmed that Vettel has a better chance of becoming the number one Scuderia at the start of the 2019 season than newcomer Leclair.
Binotto told reporters: “I think it is normal, especially at the beginning of the season, that in special situations our priority will be to support Sebastian Vettel.
He is the one with whom we want to win the championship and we are making the main bet on him.
But we have absolutely no prejudices. Ferrari's primary goal is to win both the individual and the Constructors' Championship.”
Vettel and Raikkonen got along well with each other both on the track and off the track. At the same time, Binotto really hopes that Leclair's appearance in the team will not lead to conflicts within the team.
“The fact that we have such a highly competitive pair of pilots is not a problem, but an opportunity.
Sebastian has nothing to prove. He remains our lead driver. Charles still needs to learn, as he himself emphasizes in all his interviews. But we all know how talented he is.
Anyway, I hope that I have a pleasant problem when I have to manage two riders who are fighting for the top positions of the protocol."
Leclair has repeatedly stated in the past year that he will try to fight for the title in his first season with Ferrari, if the car allows it.
But, answering a question from journalists what he thinks now about this, Charles said: “I do not think about the championship. I still have a lot to do.
I have a very good reference point in the person of Sebastian. Now I don't want to aim at anything, but I just want to do my job well.
Let's see what happens."
