Leclerc “free to fight” Vettel

Ferrari team boss Mattia Binotto has said that Charles Leclerc is “free to fight” Sebastian Vettel during the 2019 F1 Championship.

Leclerc was made Kimi Raikkonens replacement at Ferrari before the end of the season last year, with the Finn swapping and moving to Alfa Romeo.

At the new Ferrari SF90 launch for this year Binotto has said that Vettel would be prioritised if “particular situations” happen during a race or the Championship.

But the Ferrari team boss has now said (quoted by Motorsport.com): “Obviously the two will be free to fight.

“We will not ask Charles to go slow. Or Sebastian to be faster.

“We need both of them to run to the maximum and try to do their best.

“But certainly if there is any ambiguous situation at the start of the season, Sebastian is the one who has got more experience, he has been with us many years, he has already won championships, so he is our champion.”

Leclerc has impressed in the past two weeks of testing, showing a good amount of pace in the car as well as completing a large total of laps.

Binotto added: “Charles is a good driver, certainly a very fast driver.

“Here in Barcelona he focused himself on understanding the car, working with the new team and engineers.

“I don’t think there was a relative battle on the track between the two. More important for us to understand the car.

“They’ve done very similar lap times, true, but I think that’s demonstrating Charles is a good and fast driver.

“I think we knew that since the past. It’s many years [he's been] at Ferrari. We’ve seen that in the Sauber last year.

“I don’t think Charles is a surprise in that respect.

“It’s not the testing at Barcelona that is telling us that was the right choice. It was certainly the right choice but the season will tell us more.”