The Monegasque is some way off mounting a title challenge, however, with Ferrari’s SF1000 lagging behind the cars of Mercedes, Red Bull, McLaren and Racing Point.
Leclerc faces seeing runaway leader Hamilton get his hands on a seventh World Drivers’ Championship to match the record haul of Ferrari legend Michael Schumacher.
The 22-year-old says Hamilton deserves his success after striking up the perfect partnership with F1 pace-setters Mercedes.
LATEST LIVE SPORT TV DEALS
Get Sky Sports for just £25 per month for 3 months
Get BT Sport for HALF PRICE
“I think we cannot take anything away from Lewis, who I think is one of the greatest drivers in Formula 1 history and he’s doing a great job,” Leclerc told Italian newspaper La Gazzetta dello Sport.
“He is always very consistent, always 100 per cent, mentally very strong. So there is nothing to say. Mercedes, him – the combination of the two elements makes it really difficult to compete with them right now.”
READ MORE: Only threats to more Lewis Hamilton success identified
“But I think in 2022 there will be a significant change of rules and that will be a great opportunity to change things and we must work to change the situation in 2022, to open a new cycle of Ferrari successes.”
Leclerc will be partnered by Carlos Sainz next year after Ferrari opted against handing Sebastian Vettel a new contract.
Regarding the new-look line-up, Elkann said: “We’re laying the foundations to build something important and you can tell by the length of the contract we signed with Charles.
“Leclerc and Sainz will take up residence in Maranello, staying as close as possible to our engineers. The new car will also be born from their contribution.”
This article contains affiliate links, which means we may receive a commission on any sales of products or services we write about. This article was written completely independently, see more details here.