'Leclerc handled Mercedes better than Vettel'

Charles Leclerc has shown a greater ability than Sebastian Vettel to handle the pressure piled on Ferrari by Mercedes' dominance of the 2019 season so far.

That is the view of Alfa Romeo team principal Fred Vasseur, who guided Leclerc through his rookie Formula 1 season last year.

Vettel leads Leclerc by 21 points in the drivers' standings, with the Monegasque's tally hindered by failures to finish in Monaco and Germany.

With the SF90 failing to deliver on its pre-season promise, Mercedes have romped clear in both championships, winning nine of the 11 races so far this season, with Max Verstappen victorious in the other two.

Even though errors have crept into Leclerc's efforts, Vasseur believes he has outperformed Vettel to a large extent.

"I did not expect that Charles would settle in at Ferrari so quickly," Vasseur told Canal Plus.

"Everything seems a bit more difficult for Vettel. Both of them are under pressure from Mercedes but Leclerc is coping with it better.

"Charles had a great first half of the season. Of course, that was not the case at every race, but I'm not talking about his crash in Germany.

"Last weekend also ended badly for both of the Mercedes drivers. The last two corners were very slippery and many made mistakes.

"But from the beginning of the weekend he [Leclerc] looked fast enough even to be on pole, and he also performed strongly in the three or four grands prix before it."

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