2018 Scuderia Ferrari F1 Team

[foxmulder_ms]

If Ferrari let Kimi go previous years I may have understood but this year... it does NOT make sense. Very sad and a mistake. They should have let Vettel go and taken Ric!

[Fulcrum]

It's going to be hilarious if Leclerc pitches up and proves to be 'inconveniently quick'. It's one thing having to shuffle Mr Raikkonen out of the way every 3rd or 4th race, but the optics wouldn't look great if it happened every other weekend.

[Big Mangalhit]

My tribute to KIMI

[thetruth]

Lapo Elkann's company, "Garage Italia", has accidentally announced Charles Leclerc as a Ferrari driver,on their Facebook official page.
The post has been suddenly removed

[LionKing]

It's going to be hilarious if Leclerc pitches up and proves to be 'inconveniently quick'. It's one thing having to shuffle Mr Raikkonen out of the way every 3rd or 4th race, but the optics wouldn't look great if it happened every other weekend.

When has Ferrari shuffled Kimi out of the way?

Kimi is unfortunately not fast enough to win against Vettel and Lewis. He was on pole at Monza and failed.

Even if somehow both of them are out of contention in a race, he has Bottas, Verstappen and Ricciardo to cope with. Those are the drivers who were able to take advantage of the opportunities to win the last two years.

[Phil]

A sad day for Kimi fans, but honestly, it's going to be epic watching Leclerc go up against Vettel next year. Sebastian better watch out, I think Leclerc could be an extremely tough competitor and I wouldn't be surprised to see him beat Vettel (just a hunch on my part).

[Big Tea]

Will we see a race for the (second ever) triple crown? Can Kimi add NASCAR?

[Fulcrum]

It's going to be hilarious if Leclerc pitches up and proves to be 'inconveniently quick'. It's one thing having to shuffle Mr Raikkonen out of the way every 3rd or 4th race, but the optics wouldn't look great if it happened every other weekend.

When has Ferrari shuffled Kimi out of the way?

Kimi is unfortunately not fast enough to win against Vettel and Lewis. He was on pole at Monza and failed.

Even if somehow both of them are out of contention in a race, he has Bottas, Verstappen and Ricciardo to cope with. Those are the drivers who were able to take advantage of the opportunities to win the last two years.

My point was not to suggest he is faster. However, you'd have to be blind to not notice the occasions where he has been sidelined in favour of Vettel. They certainly don't happen every race though.

My point was, in the event of Leclerc being faster than Raikkonen, which I would suggest is definitely possible, the awkwardness of managing Leclerc would be far greater than they currently experience with Raikkonen, both because intervention would be required more often, and because Leclerc might be less willing to accept it.

I certainly hope Leclerc hasn't signed a Barrichello contract.

[AnotherAlex]

I certainly hope Leclerc hasn't signed a Barrichello contract.

Or worse, a Bottas one.
(That's where everyone but he and his teammate know he's there as a number 2.)


If Leclerc were to get better results than Vettel I'm sure Ferrari would be happy for him to take a shot at the WDC but, despite what some Hamilton fans say, Vettel is a very quick driver and Leclerc will be doing brilliantly to be there or thereabouts.
Hopefully the team make it clear to him that he's not expected to win the championship in his first season with them. That said, he coped admirably with a poor start at Sauber so he should be OK with the pressure.

[LM10]

A sad day for Kimi fans, but honestly, it's going to be epic watching Leclerc go up against Vettel next year. Sebastian better watch out, I think Leclerc could be an extremely tough competitor and I wouldn't be surprised to see him beat Vettel (just a hunch on my part).

Wouldn’t you be surprised to see Leclerc beat Hamilton as well?

[Sevach]

This is a good decision, the team needed a shake up.

[NathanOlder]

A sad day for Kimi fans, but honestly, it's going to be epic watching Leclerc go up against Vettel next year. Sebastian better watch out, I think Leclerc could be an extremely tough competitor and I wouldn't be surprised to see him beat Vettel (just a hunch on my part).

Wouldn’t you be surprised to see Leclerc beat Hamilton as well?

Since Vettel has been a full time driver in F1, he's always been beaten over the season by someone new joining the team he is in.

Since Lewis has been in F1 he has always beaten over the season someone new joining the team he is in.

So if Leclerc joined Lewis or Vettel, history says vettel would lose and lewis would win

[siskue2005]

In my opinion Leclerc will lose his reputation, as he will be soundly beaten by Vettel
I dont think he is ready to be leading a championship winning team.
career suicide for him....he should have waited atleast till 2020 before joining this team. He will critically evaluated , it is not as easy as going up against Erricson...we are talking about a 4x WDC

[subcritical71]

In my opinion Leclerc will lose his reputation, as he will be soundly beaten by Vettel
I dont think he is ready to be leading a championship winning team.
career suicide for him....he should have waited atleast till 2020 before joining this team. He will critically evaluated , it is not as easy as going up against Erricson...we are talking about a 4x WDC

Sadly, I agree with your sentiment. Unless he has had a couple of good coaches to tell him what to expect and how to handle certain situations, I fear he will quickly find out that you spend the majority of your time at Ferrari doing non-driving things which are just begging to trip you up. The first being how to deal with the Italian press.

[ray=out]

I don't see many people, young or experienced, turning down Ferrari when they come knocking. Career suicide would be a Ferrari young driver turning down a Ferrari seat, but I digress. Comparing it to Red Bull, Leclerc's career path from here on out can either mirror Max Verstappen's or Daniil Kvyat's, but it's up to him to get the results. I don't think he's done anything this year that indicates he will be the next Lewis or Seb (beating Ericsson isn't really a high bar), so we'll see what happens next year.

If nothing else, Ferrari need a wingman for Vettel, so it's probably better to trade an Iceman for a Goose.