David Coulthard says Ferrari's driver pairing of Sebastian Vettel and Charles Leclerc has a "dangerous" look to it in 2019, although the former F1 driver believes it is Lewis Hamilton's title hopes that could be at peril against the stellar Scuderia line-up.
Ferrari have banked on Leclerc for 2019 in a break from traditional selection which will see the Monegasque become the second youngest driver in the team's F1 history.
Vettel fell short against Hamilton last year, while Mercedes took constructors' championship glory as well for a fifth year on the bounce.
However, 13-time grand prix-winner Coulthard believes Leclerc could give the Italian team the boost of performance needed to snap that sequence.
"As far as Lewis is concerned, the pairing of Sebastian and Charles has a much more dangerous look to it, in my opinion, than that of Sebastian and Kimi," Coulthard told the Daily Mirror.
"I didn't see Kimi winning too many races last season – and that was the way it turned out.
"But I would be mightily surprised if Charles isn't spraying that champagne all over the podium on at least a couple of occasions this year.
"He is young enough, enthusiastic enough and fast enough to be pushing Sebastian onwards. And that will keep not just Seb on his toes, but Lewis as well.
"Ferrari did not always play their best hand last season. I'm not sure Seb and Kimi would feel that they received the optimum support.
"If they are to really give Lewis something to think about, the team is going to have to push themselves that little bit more – and so are the drivers."