Charles Leclerc, who modified his contract with Ferrari, up to 2024, has said that he would not recently extend crash with teammate Sebastian Vettel on the race track again.

He made the statement in an interview with Autosport. Last season, it was quite obvious that there was some rivalry between the two drivers, especially in Brazil last November when the two crashed into each other, costing them the race as they were both disqualified.

Both drivers refused to accept blame just as their boss, Mattia Binotto was unwilling to apportion blames. In Russia, Vettel ignored the team’s orders the same way Leclerc disobeyed similar plans in Monza, Italy. He admits that the crash in Brazil was a lesson for both as they learned how to deal with each other better.

But Leclerc has now come to say that he plans to instead learn from his older teammate, admitting that Vettel has more experience, especially with dealing with the engineers and in understanding the course as a whole.

The 22-year old had an impressive 2019, winning seven poles and finishing in fourth place in the overall drivers’ ranking, ahead of Vettel. He was also able to secure Ferrari their first Grand Prix for last season. No doubt his performance was what earned him the opportunity of renewing his contract. Ferrari had a disappointing 2019overall, but Leclerc’s performance was the one thing to be happy about.

Still, the rivalry between him and Vettel cost the team much more. Vettel admits that both of them are quite competitive, always wanting to win, and this could lead to problems on the track.

However, he still says that his relationship with Vettel is quite strong, stating that both of them are mature enough to recognize that whatever happens on the track remains there and they do not bring it to their off-track dealings. He said that they both give enough time for an incident to die down before speaking on it, so as not to misunderstand each other.

Written by: Leon Osamor