Scuderia Ferrari protégé Charles Leclerc is “definitely” world champion material: that is the view of Xevi Pujolar, an experienced engineer who works with the Monaco-born rookie at Sauber.
“He is a potential champion. Definitely,” he recently said, as reported by Spanish nationwide daily sports newspaper published in Barcelona El Mundo Deportivo – “The way he is very demanding with himself, I’ve seen in other drivers like him. He does everything to the maximum and until he does he’s not happy. And he wants the same from those around him. They’re the kind of people who ultimately win because they’re always looking for their limits,” Xevi Pujolar added.
“He has many things I have seen in other great drivers, but I prefer not to compare. What I can say is that if the car improves he would do great results.”
20-year-old Monégasque racing driver Charles Leclerc is a Ferrari junior Academy driver and tipped for a future at the Maranello team, after his experience with Alfa Romeo Sauber. Asked if he would win in a winning car, Pujolar answered: “Yes. Ok, at some of the first races he made mistakes, but that’s normal. You arrive from Formula 2 where you’ve won everything and find that everyone is a champion. So at the beginning it’s a shock. You think ‘How is that driver as fast as me?’ But once this type of driver knows how to regulate their potential, everything starts to happen. Sauber is the best place he could have started in F1.” – the Formula 1 Head of Trackside Engineering concluded.
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