“Will Definitely Become A World Champion” : Alfa Romeo Manager Compares Charles Leclerc to F1’s Greatest Driver

Charles Leclerc had a brilliant first season at Ferrari. The young Monegasque was so good that he displaced a 4-time world champion as the team’s number one driver. He was even rewarded with a never before seen 5-year contract with Ferrari. It’s clear to anyone who has watched Leclerc race that he has a bright future and a number of trophies to be collected ahead.

Before joining The Prancing Horse, Leclerc had done a good job at Alfa Romeo in 2018. Alfa Romeo’s team manager already knew what a phenomenal talent he was.

“I’ve never seen a driver like Charles Leclerc before”- Zehnder

Team manager for Alfa Romeo, Beat Zehnder was in conversation with Motorsport.com. Talking about Charles, He said, ” It was very interesting to work with a young boy again. We had done this before at Sauber, but since a long time we really had a special driver. I’ve never seen a driver like Charles before. He really was a reward for the team after many tough years.”

Zehnder further compared him to some of the game’s all-time greats saying, “ In terms of speed you can compare Charles with Kimi and besides that he has the working posture of Michael Schumacher. Give him a good car and he will definitely become a world champion.”

Leclerc’s former partner at Alfa Romeo, Marcus Ericsson was also full of praise for the Monegasque. Ericsson said, “ When he went to Ferrari I knew he would be competitive right away. However, I didn’t expect him to do so well in his first year. he’s a very special driver that will only help Ferrari further forward.”

It’s safe to say that the Tifosi will agree with these praises for Leclerc. They’ll be hoping that Leclerc can bag a drivers’ championship for Ferrari after a 13-year wait. They’ll also have their hopes pinned on him for a constructors’ championship after 12 years. If he builds on last year’s performances he’ll be breaking Ferrari’s drought sooner rather than later.