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Vettel insists Leclerc challenge is good for Ferrari

Sebastian Vettel says that the success of Charles Leclerc in his first outings at Ferrari in 2019 has been overall positive for the team.

Pundits had speculated that pressure from the 21-year-old Monegasque had been piling pressure on Vettel and forcing him into uncharacteristic mistakes in the first six races of 2019.

"Vettel needs to feel at home, to live in a relaxed atmosphere," former Ferrari driver Gerhard Berger told La Gazzetta dello Sport. this week.

"[With Leclerc], he is suffering and cannot give 110 per cent, as happened when he was with [Daniel] Ricciardo, when he then left Red Bull."

Vettel says Ferrari is still looking for the 'grip guy'

Berger said that unlike Michael Schumacher or Lewis Hamilton, Vettel lacked the 'super ego' to dominate a team and force it to shape itself around him to the exclusion of all others.

"Before leaving Mercedes, [Lewis] wants to match Schumacher with seven titles," he said. "He is the driver that most reminds me of Ayrton Senna.

"Seb is a hard worker like Schumacher, but compared to Michael he lacks the ability to direct the team, to ask for the hiring of key men," he said.

However, Vettel responded to the criticism by saying that the competition between two talented drivers at Ferrari was an advantage for the team - as well as for himself personally.

“I think it’s positive. We’re pushing each other,” he insisted.

"I think that’s a good situation for the team to have two drivers pushing the car to the limit and exploring the limitations. Trying to find out first of all what they are, and second how we can fix them."

Vettel pointed out that there was no reason why he should feel under any more pressure in 2019 than any other previous season when he also had talented team mates alongside him.

"I think in fairness and keeping the respect, I don’t think I’ve had easy teammates in the past," realling past pairings with Daniel Ricciardo and Kimi Raikkonen.

"I don’t think Kimi was slow!" he said, comparing the Finn with his current team mate. "Obviously they are different: different people first of all, different drivers, different style.

"I think it became apparent for good reasons that Charles is very talented and very fast," he added.

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Andrew Lewin

Andrew first became a fan of Formula 1 during the time when Michael Schumacher and Damon Hill were stepping into the limelight after the era of Alain Prost, Nigel Mansell and Aryton Senna. He's been addicted ever since, and has been writing about the sport now for nearly a quarter of a century for a number of online news sites. He's also written professionally about GP2 (now Formula 2), GP3, IndyCar, World Rally Championship, MotoGP and NASCAR. In his other professional life, Andrew is a freelance writer, social media consultant, web developer/programmer, and digital specialist in the fields of accessibility, usability, IA, online communities and public sector procurement. He worked for many years in magazine production at Bauer Media, and for over a decade he was part of the digital media team at the UK government's communications department. Born and raised in Essex, Andrew currently lives and works in south-west London.