Scuderia Ferrari Finnish driver Kimi Raikkonen has tipped Ferrari junior Charles Leclerc to be a star of the future. The young Monegasque driver is leading the Formula 2 championship by a healthy 50 points and is eyeing up a full-time race seat in Formula 1 next year. Charles Leclerc joined the Ferrari Academy back in 2016, joining Italian Antonio Giovinazzi who is also hoping to claim an Formula One seat for the 2018 season. Last month, Charles Leclerc said that being able to observe Sebastian Vettel and Kimi Raikkonen, Scuderia Ferrari’s current lineup, was a big help for him.
Italian-Canadian executive and Ferrari president Sergio Marchionne admitted recently that he was hoping to turn Sauber into some form of Ferrari junior team after the Hinwil squad announced a new multi-year deal to run with Ferrari power, ditching the previous plan which involved Honda. Speaking about his future, Charles Leclerc explained: “Obviously as I said I need to impress as many people as I can and I will give my best to do that. Then if I have an opportunity at the end of the year I will grab it with two hands but for now I am just focusing on Formula 2.”
Charles Leclerc drove Scuderia Ferrari’s 2017 car earlier this month at the Hungaroring track during the in-season test: “It is good if he is happy with the whole team helping him” – Kimi Raikkonen said, as reported by the Italian media on Monday. – “It is always tricky to come and drive a different car than you are used to. But he has time on his side, he has shown good progress and for sure in the future he will do good things.” – Scuderia Ferrari’s Finnish driver concluded.
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