Brawn: Leclerc will fight Vettel more than Raikkonen

F1 motorsport chief Ross Brawn believes that Charles Leclerc will put up more of a fight against Sebastian Vettel than the German's former teammate Kimi Raikkonen. Leclerc will race for Ferrari in 2019 after an impressive rookie season with Sauber.

Leclerc's strong qualifying sessions and points-scoring performances have earned him a promotion to Ferrari after impressing many fans and drivers throughout his rise through the ranks.

The Monegasque driver now finds himself in at the deep end against the four-time champion and de-facto number one driver at Ferrari in Vettel. However, Brawn believes that Vettel could be in for a surprise or two come next season.

"I don't imagine Charles Leclerc is going to be quite as accommodating as Kimi was on occasions," Brawn told the official F1 website

"Kimi is his own man, don't get me wrong, but I think Kimi knew what the lay of the land was in the team."

Vettel missed out on a fifth world championship title to Lewis Hamilton after several high profile mistakes from both himself and the team allowed Mercedes and Hamilton to canter to another world title each.

Brawn added that the 2018 season was a squandered opportunity for Vettel and Ferrari, suggesting that a lapse in judgement in a technical side also cost the team massively in their fight with Mercedes.

"He's had some very good performances, and played a big part in taking the team forward, but in the end, Seb and the team didn't deliver.

"They had a strong year but they have got to make that next step and deliver - and that's Seb and the team.

"I don't know the dynamic or chemistry in the team or Seb's relationship in the team or how that all works.

"He made one or two errors, which is unfortunate but with drivers, that can happen.

"The team seemed to make a wrong turn technically for several races and then they came back again to an older spec which corrected their form."