Charles Leclerc: Ferrari drivers mature enough to avoid Brazil repeat

Charles Leclerc believes that he and Ferrari team-mate Sebastian Vettel are mature enough to ensure they will not again collide at a Formula 1 grand prix.

Leclerc teamed up with Vettel at Ferrari last year and there were several flashpoints between the pair, most notably in Italy, Singapore and Russia.

They had avoided clashing on-track until the penultimate round of the season, in Brazil, where they came to blows while battling for fourth position in the closing laps.

Ferrari did not publicly apportion blame for an incident which resulted in the retirement of both drivers from the race.

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Leclerc and Vettel will again form Ferrari’s driver line-up in Formula 1 this year, with the youngster now contracted to the team through 2024.

Leclerc, in an interview with Autosport, explained: “I think we are mature enough to understand that whatever happens on track, obviously we are two competitors, we both want to win.

“Sometimes on track we might have some frictions, but in the end we are mature enough to know that what happens on track is on track and off track we are different people.

“I think the most important [thing] is that we work well together, especially off-track to try and develop the car in the best way possible.

“And of course not exceed the limits when we are on track like we’ve seen in Brazil, but I think it was a good lesson for both of us, and it won’t happen again.”

Leclerc revealed that he and Vettel carried out discussions after some incidents in order to comprehend the other’s perspective.

“There’s been times where we didn’t really understand each other in some situations,” he said.

“I think it’s never really good to speak about it straight away after an incident, so we let some time [pass].

“After Russia we sat down again in Japan and then we understood ourselves and we’ve grown from this experience.”