Lewis Hamilton admits his lack of experience racing Charles Leclerc means he will do so "with caution".
On Sunday, the Monegasque fully announced himself with a brilliant drive in Bahrain and would have easily scored his first Formula 1 win without the engine issue striking his Ferrari.
As a result of his performance though, Leclerc has now made a strong case that he could feature in this year's championship fight with Hamilton keen to learn more about the 21-year-old.
"I think every time you come across a new driver that you've had very little experience with, you approach it with caution," he was quoted by GPFans.com.
"You don't know how they behave, you don't know if they're erratic, super aggressive or they're more relaxed, or they're more prone mistakes, all of those sorts of things.
"I've not had any time on track with him to assess him. He looks like a very, very stable, fair and balanced driver as far as I can tell. But through the season you'll see."
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Leclerc and Hamilton did briefly battle on the opening lap on Sunday after Charles dropped to third and was keen not to fall behind the Briton.
But the Mercedes driver is hoping for more meaningful fights down the line.
"I approach him currently the same as I approach Sebastian [Vettel]," he continued. "At the moment I've not had a wheel-to-wheel battle with him [Leclerc], but I will discover that at some stage, I'm sure.
"Hopefully we will get some wheel-to-wheel battles through the year."
