Vettel warned Leclerc wants F1 title at Ferrari

Vettel warned Leclerc wants F1 title at Ferrari

Martin Macdonald

Thursday 13 September 2018 16:33

Charles Leclerc has insisted that he has not been given an opportunity at Ferrari to continue his learning and development, but to aid the team towards more championship titles - something he is targetting in 2019 up against his new team-mate Sebastian Vettel.

Last week, Ferrari announced that they would be replacing Kimi Raikkonen with Leclerc at the end of the 2018 campaign with the Finn going in the other direction to Alfa Romeo Sauber.

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The Monegasque is one of the most exciting and promising young drivers on the grid and is a former F2 champion, having come through the junior ranks with Ferrari.

At just 20-years-old, Leclerc is disadvantaged in terms of experience, but he insists he won't have too much time to learn as the main priority now is to take the Prancing Horse to titles.

"I'm not going to Ferrari to learn. I think I've had a very good season this year where I could learn the most of it and next year is to perform in a big team," Leclerc said when previewing this weekend's Singapore GP.

"This year they have a car to win the title and if next year is the same [the objective] will be to win the title.

"I think that if you are good enough in one seat, then you are good enough. If next year I don't have the results good enough to stay in Ferrari then it will be normal that I downgrade but then I don't deserve a Ferrari seat."