Charles Leclerc vows not to repeat crash with Sebastian Vettel and to learn from his mistakes in 2020

Ferrari teammates took each other out of the Brazilian Grand Prix at the end of last season but Leclerc has stressed the importance of working together for the good of the team

Charles Leclerc believes he and Ferrari teammate Sebastian Vettel have learnt their lesson after claiming there will be no repeat of the pair’s controversial Brazilian Grand Prix collision.

The two Ferrari drivers took each other out of last season’s Interlagos race when challenging for position, which proved the culmination of a series of clashes as tensions within the garage increased throughout the 2019 campaign.

The crash was largely caused by Leclerc’s rise to prominence to challenge Vettel’s status as Ferrari’s No 1, which appears to be up for grabs this season after the Monegasque signed a lucrative long-term deal with the Italian outfit that ties him down until the end of the 2024 season.

But the 22-year-old has vowed to avoid any repeat of their Sao Paulo shunt this season in order to work together to produce the best car and results for the team in the hope of ending their 13-year wait for a world championship.

"We are extremely competitive and sometimes on track we might have some frictions," Leclerc told Autosport. "But in the end we are mature enough to know that what happened on track is on track and off it we are different.

"The most important thing is we work together well off track to develop the car in the best way possible and of course not exceed the limits when we are on track like we have seen in Brazil.

"But I think it was a good lesson for both of us and it won't happen again."

Leclerc also revealed how he and Vettel cleared the air following their series of run-ins, which appeared to start when Vettel ignored team orders during the Russian Grand Prix to let Leclerc past – which aided arch-rivals Mercedes in handing victory to Lewis Hamilton.

The two did not speak immediately, but instead waited until the next round in order to fully take in what had happened and why it went wrong.

"There have been times when we didn't really understand each other in some situations,” added Leclerc. “But it is never really good to speak about it straight away after an incident. So we left some time and then after Russia we sat down again in Japan and we understood each other and we have grown from this experience."

Ferrari hope to not only challenge Mercedes in 2020 but finally beat them, which they have not managed to do since the last major rule change in 2014. This season will be the last before a similar shift in regulations next year, which leaves them little time to capitalise on having a car that many felt was superior to the Mercedes last season for the majority of the year.

Much of that falls on the drivers as well as the team, but having claimed the highest number of pole positions last season, Leclerc is aware he needs to up his standards if he is to challenge Hamilton.

"I am working extremely hard to do less mistakes than in 2019," he said. "As a team we also need to focus on that.

"In terms of performance it is always really difficult to know before the first race. I was going to say winter testing but actually in 2019 winter testing went a lot better than the first race.

"We have been working well and I feel definitely more ready than in 2019. I hope I will be able to prove it on track."