Charles Leclerc admits he ‘hated’ being beaten by 122-podium driver when he joined Ferrari

Follow us on Google Discover

Charles Leclerc will be approaching 150 Grand Prix starts when the 2024 season comes to an end.

In that time, he’s managed six victories, 36 podiums and a qualifying record that many drivers would be incredibly envious of.

Although he’ll be disappointed he’s failed to convert the majority of his 25 pole positions into race wins, Charles Leclerc is still one of the fastest drivers of his generation.

After an impressive debut campaign with Sauber following his GP3 and Formula 2 championship wins, Leclerc was promoted to the senior Ferrari team in 2019.

He’s finished runner-up to Max Verstappen once in the Drivers’ Championship once and before Ferrari’s recent struggles with their major update package in Spain, appeared to be his closest rival once again.

However, he’s only won once this year – at his home race in Monaco – and faces a completely different challenge in 2025 when Lewis Hamilton arrives on the scene.

In an interview with Motorsport Italia, Leclerc has been talking about his battles with previous teammates, after Leclerc was very complimentary about Carlos Sainz ahead of his move to Williams.

However, Leclerc admitted that when he first joined Ferrari, he hated losing to Sebastian Vettel.

The German was in his fifth season with the team after winning four back-to-back world championships with Red Bull and had just missed out on earning another title thanks to Hamilton.

While Leclerc admitted that he wasn’t expected to beat his more experienced teammate, he set high standards for himself when putting in the same machinery as the 122-time podium achiever.

READ MORE: Ferrari driver Charles Leclerc’s life outside F1 from net worth to girlfriend

Charles Leclerc admits he ‘hated’ losing to Sebastian Vettel at Ferrari

Asked about his battles with his teammates, Leclerc said: “So far I have never found myself in the shoes of the most experienced, but if I find myself two-tenths behind my teammate… whether it is Lewis or anyone else makes no difference.

“I don’t like being behind, and I think it is the same for all the drivers on the grid, you always want to be first, in any situation.

“When I was with Seb, for example, I hated finding myself behind him.

“I knew it was my first year at Ferrari and that I was competing with a much more experienced teammate, but I thought that was enough of an excuse. As far as I’m concerned, I hate being beaten”.

READ MORE: Everything you need to know about Scuderia Ferrari from team principal to factory

Charles Leclerc told he’s dealing with a ‘serious handicap’ at Ferrari this year

At the beginning of the season, Leclerc was looking like one of the key challengers to Verstappen in the championship.

He was on the podium four times in the seven races before his iconic victory in Monaco, but he had to wait until Spa – and benefit from George Russell’s disqualification – to return to the top three again.

Leclerc has been told he’s dealing with a ‘serious handicap’ at Ferrari this season because of his far-from-perfect relationship with his race engineer.

Several poor strategy calls have cost him points this year including unfortunate tyre calls in Montreal and Silverstone.

Ted Kravitz shared something Leclerc told him about Ferrari’s struggles that the team will hope to resolve sooner rather than later.

Ferrari will be desperate to solve their issues before Hamilton’s arrival when they’ll feel they have the strongest driver line-up on the grid.