Unfair of waiting for a Leclerc title offer

Leclerc was promoted to Ferrari, where he will be associated with Sebastian Vettel, after only one year of F1 with the Sauber team.

He has been widely expected to challenge Vettel more regularly than his predecessor Kimi Raikkonen in his first season, although Ferrari is likely to give priority to Vettel as Leclerc gets up to speed.

When asked if Leclerc could be as strong as Vettel or a contender in the championship, the five-time world champion Hamilton said: "It would be unfair to put that kind of expectation on his shoulders.

"It's his second year, he's young, he's going to make mistakes, he's obviously very fast, very talented and, hopefully, probably, he's going to surprise more than one."

"[But] you talk about a veteran who is four times world champion.

"Nothing replaces experience, so it will be interesting to see how these two parallels work together."

"Sebastian is a multiple world champion and Charles has many experiences to live in. What's great with a young person is that you are energetic and you are determined."

Hamilton entered F1 in 2007 at McLaren alongside Fernando Alonso, the new rookie of the team. The battle between the rookie and the double world champion caused big problems, leading to the departure of Alonso after only one season.

The Vettel Ferrari deal continues until 2020 and he downplayed the prospect of an early exit, which 2009 world champion Jenson Button suggested could happen if Leclerc caused him problems this season .

Leclerc was described as a "full rival" by Vettel earlier this week, but the German said it did not mean he would cause "problems".

"He's in the seat for a reason so I have to take it very seriously," said Vettel.

"You always have a close rivalry with your teammate, but the number one priority is to move the team forward.

"It's been a little longer than I'm with him, so these are different things that he may have in the plate at first, but he's a nice guy.

"I hope that, in a positive way, you will leave him alone and let him do his job.I am certain that he will be fast enough and will put me under pressure."