Sauber team boss Beat Zehnder believes Charles Leclerc blends the speed of Kimi Raikkonen with the work ethic of Michael Schumacher.
Zehnder worked with Leclerc during the Monegasque's maiden season of F1 in 2018, an impressive debut campaign that incited Ferrari to move its young protégé from Sauber to the Scuderia after just a single year.
"It was a very good season, it was a very interesting season working again with a young kid," Zehnder told Motorsport.com.
"We've done this before, but for the first time in a long time, we had a newcomer, a very special driver with a very special attitude.
"I've never seen a driver like Charles before, and it was again very rewarding for all the work we had, for all the difficult times we had, to work with a kid again."
Zehnder's long-standing role as Sauber's team manager provided him with a special insight into the talent and skills of Raikkonen and Schumacher who raced with the Hinwil squad during its Group C days in sportscar racing.
And Leclerc is definitely on a par with his illustrious predecessors said the 56-year-old Sauber man.
"I've always said that for me, from his speed, he's Kimi Raikkonen, and from his working attitude, he's probably Michael [Schumacher]," added Zehnder.
"Give him a good car, and he's going to be world champion, definitely."
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