Barrichello: Leclerc needs to be good in the head to survive at Ferrari

Former Ferrari driver Rubens Barrichello believes new Scuderia man Charles Leclerc will need to be "good in the head" to survive at the Italian team.

Leclerc enjoyed a fantastic first season in Formula 1, impressing for Sauber and even out-performing Marcus Ericsson in the process.

The two have now taken very different paths - with Ericsson now competing in IndyCar and Leclerc switching to Formula 1's biggest team.

Barrichello is looking forward to seeing the young Monegasque driver compete for Ferrari, but believes he will need to be "good in the head" to succeed there.

"I'm super excited for him," Barrichello said about Leclerc to Motorsport.com, as quoted by The Checkered Flag. "He's one of those young guys who really made his way through (in impressive style).

"To get into Ferrari (and be a good driver), the only thing you need is to be really good in your head. Talent, we know he has. It's going to be a good challenge for Seb (Sebastian Vettel)."

Former Ferrari and Brawn team boss Ross Brawn believes Vettel may have to up his game in 2019.

"Leclerc has been pretty impressive," Brawn said. "He's not had a tough reference yet and that will come in 2019. Being at Ferrari brings enormous pressure and he'll have the pressure of racing against a world champion, a multi-world champion, so he's going to have a pretty challenging year.

"But from what I have seen so far, I expect him to do a very respectable job."