Sauber Team Principal Frederic Vasseur has stressed that rookie Charles Leclerc must be given time to develop, and insists he will not be applying pressure on the squad’s new signing.
Leclerc, 20, swept to back-to-back titles in GP3 and F2, and will step up to a Formula 1 race seat with Sauber this year, following prior test and practice runs with the Swiss team, Haas and Ferrari, of whose young driver system he is a member.
Vasseur, though, has moved to allay any pressure on Leclerc – who competed for his ART squad in karting and GP3 – and believes the Monegasque has the potential to develop strongly through 2018.
“I know Charles for… not 10 years but more or less because he's done go-karting with us,” Vasseur explained.
“He was very successful so far. He won more or less everything, but the next step will be the biggest one for sure. Between GP3 and F2, F3 or GP3, it's more or less the same situation. To do F1 is a different story.
“You have to learn about tyres, about energy management, about engine management to deal with you. It's a lot of things.
“But first you will have also to learn about the track, the first two or three circuits you will have to learn the track.
“I don't have to put too much pressure on the shoulders. You have to deliver, but what is most important for me is to show he can improve across the course of the season. I know where we are today, similar for Charles also.
“The most important is to improve consistently during the season. He has a very positive attitude, and I'm fully convinced that he will do the job.”
Vasseur added that Leclerc will not be swayed by his connection with Ferrari, which potentially has a vacancy for 2019.
“I think Charles has to be focused on the job,” he said. “The worst case scenario would be for him to focus on what could happen in 2020. It's the wrong attitude.
“He has to be focused on the current job with the Sauber engineers and not to think about the Ferraris.”
