Not sure why some people object to the question being asked so much. I mean, it's just a question designed to create debate, not a statement of what should happen. It seems to have done it's job admirably.
Besides, anyone that has even a passing interest in F1 knows how knee-jerk it is
all the time. Bottas wins once, "we have a new Bottas lion this year! Watch out Hamilton!" Sure. Leclerc (should have) wins once, "Ferrari should support him as primary driver now! Watch out Vettel!" Yep. Vettel spins once, "Holy cow, he's so rubbish and doesn't deserve the four world titles he clearly won by luck alone, and should be kicked out of Ferrari!" Of course.
My own opinion on this question is that they should keep their options open, as it's too early in the season to dedicate support to one driver. I thought it was very premature and lacking foresight for Ferrari to publicly state that Vettel was their number one before the season has even started.
For starters, the pressure is getting to him and forcing him into silly errors, fact. Taking even a tiny amount of that pressure away by giving their drivers equal status, even if only in public, may make a difference. But perhaps more importantly from a team perspective, it does no good to support a driver that ends up falling well short, regardless of the reasons.
Secondly, nobody knows what Leclerc is really capable of in F1 yet. He's clearly a great driver as his results in the lower formulas speak for themselves. He also did a great job of dragging that thing he was driving last year well above where it deserved to be, certainly when compared to his teammate. And so far this year he is coping with the immense pressure of joining the premier team in F1 in only his second season. If he keeps this up he will probably deserve being supported as number one.
I don't truly understand the neigh-sayers as it's hardly unheard of for a young kid to enter F1 and take it by storm, is it? A certain Englishman was just a couple of points shy of winning the championship in his rookie season back in `07, and many would agree that a certain Dutchman may well have a championship under his belt already if he had a competitive car.
Personally, I think Leclerc has a really great attitude and I'm really interested to see what he can achieve this season.