F1: Charles Leclerc will not start season as No.1 Ferrari driver

Charles Leclerc was expected to get the nod as Ferrari's number one driver following the appointment of Fred Vasseur as the Italian outfit's new team principal. The two share a close bond following the Monegasque driver's stints under the Frenchman, first in GP2 and then during his F1 debut campaign with Sauber.

On Thursday, Vasseur, speaking to the media for the first time since taking over from Mattia Binotto made it clear that there will be no favourites. Leclerc and teammate Carlos Sainz will start the season on equal footing despite the Monegasque comfortably beating his teammate last season.

The former Sauber team boss will allow his two drivers to race each other in order to have a fair shot at the championship; Ferrari's ultimate target. Any team orders are expected to arrive only at a much later stage in the season, if it becomes clear that one driver has a better opportunity than the other.

"We have two very good drivers and both of them are able to do the job," Vasseur said. "We will have the capacity to provide them with exactly the same car and the same structure and the same support. What is clear is that the target is to win with Ferrari and for Ferrari."

"There will be no No.1 and No.2, but if at some stage I have to take action I will take action. It doesn't matter if it's for one or the other but if at one stage of the season I have to do something, I will do it."

Apart from the drivers, Vasseur also discussed Ferrari's main problem in 2022, which was their lack of reliability. Power unit failures during the course of the campaign caused the Maranello team's title challenge to fade away.

The Frenchman indicated that the team has made good progress on the reliability front, but admitted that the true picture will only become clear during testing. He also rubbished rumours about Ferrari gaining a massive performance boost after fixing their reliability woes.

"I don't know where the numbers are coming from but [that figure] is just a joke!" he added. "We made some steps but it is just about reliability. I think the performance of the engine was not an issue at all."

"The issue was the reliability and the first target is to fix it. So far it looks OK, but the reality on the track is a different aspect."