Rosberg: Vettel "can't afford" to have season like 2018 "or Leclerc will beat him"

Former F1 driver Nico Rosberg thinks Sebastian Vettel won't be able to afford to have another season like he did last season, as the 2016 champion thinks his new teammate Charles Leclerc will beat him in that case.

Vettel has always been a driver with a number two next to him in this decade. It was Mark Webber at Red Bull and Kimi Raikkonen at Ferrari. The only year in which he was truly challenged was in 2014, when Daniel Ricciardo was promoted to Red Bull and actually scored more points than Vettel in the season.

This could be the case once more as Leclerc makes the step up to Ferrari from Alfa Romeo Sauber after his rookie season, as Rosberg thinks this could be a good battle between the two.

"Leclerc at Ferrari is exciting because he's fast - very, very fast," the German told Marca.

"He has all the tools to be a world champion, and against Sebastian, who has always had a clear number two but that time is over. He [Leclerc] has everything to be the number one and that's exciting to see.

During the Schumacher era and during the briefer Alonso period, Ferrari have always had a number one and a number two within the team. This won't be the case in 2019, which is interesting to Rosberg.

"It's interesting to see how Ferrari will handle this because as far as I can remember, they've always had a number one and a number two. For 11 years. The last time was Kimi [Raikkonen] against Felipe [Massa]. That will be brilliant, to see how they handle it internally, and how much they'll respect Leclerc.

Sounds like Nico is ready for the new season!