Charles Leclerc says he’s happy to continue driving alongside Sebastian Vettel if Ferrari extend his team mate’s contract, but will respect their decision if they make a change.

Ferrari handed Leclerc a new long-term deal during the off-season. But Vettel, who joined them from Red Bull in 2015, will be out of contract at the end of the year.

“I’m very good with him by my side,” said Leclerc when asked about his team mate’s future during the Australian Grand Prix weekend, “but I will respect Ferrari’s decision in case they want to change.”

The pair were involved in a series of disputes during their first season together last year.

Leclerc was accused of failing to respect the team’s arrangements during qualifying at Monza and was rebuked for querying the team’s strategy in Singapore, where the timing of his pit stop cost him victory to Vettel. In Russia Vettel repeatedly refused to follow an order to let Leclerc overtake him, and the pair retired in Brazil after colliding with each other.

Despite these incidents Leclerc insisted his relationship with Vettel “has always been good.”

“Obviously last year there have been some tricky moments,” he admitted. “But our relationship stayed the same, which I think is a good thing. We are both mature enough to do the separation between what happens on-track and [away from] the track.

“I feel very lucky to be in a position where I’ve got a long-term contract and and I’m happy to be in this position. I also know his position in a way as [in] my last two years I only had a one-year contract. But I don’t think it will it will destabilise him so much. He’s a very strong driver and I expect him to be very strong anyway.”

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2020 F1 season