Ex-F1 supremo Bernie Ecclestone believes Charles Leclerc has extra probability of successful this 12 months’s title over new teammate Lewis Hamilton.
With the technical laws remaining secure within the winter, many count on the battle on the entrance to be tighter than ever.
Primarily based on F1 pre-season testing, McLaren look like the crew to beat heading into the season-opening Australian Grand Prix.
Ferrari’s true potential remains to be unknown after Hamilton couldn’t full a race simulation on the ultimate day attributable to an “anomaly”.
Ferrari narrowly missed out on final 12 months’s F1 constructors’ championship by 14 factors.
Nonetheless, Hamilton’s arrival has solely elevated the hype and optimism at Maranello.
Ecclestone, who was beforehand F1 CEO for over 40 years, sees Leclerc as Ferrari’s greatest wager at successful the title.
The 94-year-old thinks that Leclerc’s lengthy affiliation with Ferrari will be sure that he retains inner assist regardless of Hamilton becoming a member of the crew.
“You’d must clearly suppose McLaren and I’d prefer to see Ferrari win,” Ecclestone instructed Reuters.
“He’s [Leclerc] been there right through so they’re hardly going to dump him for Lewis.
“I’m not saying Lewis isn’t attainable, simply that they won’t cease taking care of and hoping Leclerc’s going to get the job completed.”
Ecclestone nonetheless backs Verstappen
Heading into the brand new season, Max Verstappen is the reigning champion.
Verstappen has gained the final 4 consecutive F1 titles, with final 12 months arguably being his most spectacular.
After successful 7 of the opening 10 races, Verstappen gained simply two of the remaining 14.
Although Purple Bull had been struggling for kind, Verstappen remained constant to recover from the road.
Consequently, Ecclestone remains to be backing Verstappen for the title.
“I nonetheless suppose Max will win,” he stated. “There’s no purpose why he shouldn’t. If he’s bought the tools, clearly there’d be no dialogue about him. It might be a particular.
“If the automobile’s as much as it, he’ll get the job completed.”
