Charles Leclerc says he will not be Sebastian Vettel’s ’number 2’ driver in 2019.
Asked in Singapore if his new contract has a clause making clear his subservient status alongside Vettel, the Monaco-born rookie said: "Oh no. No, no, no, no.
"We start the season as equals," the Dutch publication Formule 1 quotes him as saying.
Vettel and the departing Kimi Raikkonen are good friends, but Leclerc admits he hardly knows German Vettel.
"I don’t know him very well, but he’s always nice to me," he said. "If I did well in the simulator, he always sent me a text message.
"I think it will work well with him," Leclerc, 20, added.
"But I’m not going to Ferrari to learn. The Ferrari is good enough this year and if that is the case again in 2019, the title must be the goal even if it is a big challenge," he said.