Charles Leclerc admits he still has to pinch himself at the thought of being a Ferrari driver in Formula 1.
Now entering his second season as a race driver at Maranello, the Monegasque made history in 2019 as the youngest person to drive for the Scuderia in half a century at 21.
The confidence of youth certainly helped him as he claimed seven poles and two wins, including establishing himself in the hearts of every Tifosi by giving Ferrari a first Italian Grand Prix victory since 2010.
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But even now it still feels slightly surreal.
“It feels good, it feels really good,” he said in a Ferrari Q&A. “Even if it is already a year since I started driving for Ferrari, I get a special feeling every time that I put on the red shirt.
“It is still hard to believe that I am here. It is an honour and I can’t wait to get back on track.”
Reflecting on his first year, which saw Leclerc beat his four-time world champion teammate Sebastian Vettel at the first attempt, Charles revealed the biggest trait he has learnt.
“I think patience. Patience is something which is very important and something which I struggled to have in the past,” he explained.
“But I learnt with Ferrari you need it as obviously you can’t have everything right away. Sometimes you need a bit of patience to learn from the best, from Seb, and from the team and things take time to settle.
“You need to wait a little bit sometimes. I was a bit too impatient before.”
That being said, Leclerc insists he doesn’t want to deviate too much from the approach which has helped him reach the heights he’s now at.
“Sure, I have made some errors over the course of my career but they have also made me the driver I am today, I learned from those errors,” he stated.
“So, no, I would not change anything just because it has shaped me into the person I am now.”