Flavio Briatore, Former Renault F1 boss, appreciates Charles Lecerc performance over the years. He thinks Leclerc was the right choice for Ferrari and he should have been on the team long ago.
Briatore was critical of Ferrari management for letting Kimi Raikkonen on biard for years. He suggested that Ferrari was late in its decision to get Leclerc on board. But nevertheless, the right decision.
The Monégasque driver has provided fans with a fantastic driving performance while winning F2 titles back to back. He represented Ferrari Driver Academy in Formula 2.
Leclerc made his debut in Formula 1 through Sauber F1 team where he won Grand Prix 3rd practice session.
His performance made him standout and be became talk of the town. He was promoted to Ferrari seat beside, four times world champion, Sebastian Vettel in 2019.
The move was surprising for many as the team favoured experienced drivers in the past.
Briatore was unable to comprehend Ferrari decision not to replace Raikkonen. He thinks Leclerc was worthy of promoting to team and should have been on board in 2018.
Leclerc was quick to make impact in Formula 1. He outshined his team mate Vettel by beating him to fourth position. He also fetched most awaited victories for Ferrari. Additionally, he scored most pole positions last season.
Outspoken Briatore
Briatore was outspoken while expressing his opinion. He said: “Leclerc is young. [He has] big balls, because he’s demonstrating [that].
“I believe if I was at Ferrari, I would have put Leclerc already two years ago to replace Raikkonen, because, you know, with Raikkonen you are going nowhere.
“You’ll never win [anything] with him. You know at the time I would take the risk and put Leclerc [in the car]. Leclerc is a really, really strong guy.”
Both Leclerc and Max Verstappen from Red Bull are perceived as title contenders to Lewis Hamilton, who is aiming his seventh world title this year.
Briatore thinks that Verstappen is superior to Leclerc
“Leclerc is not recognisable now,” said Briatore.
He is very fond of Versatppen. He said: “Verstappen for me is the more incredible driver. He is fantastic in the way he is overtaking, the way he is a gladiator.”
