MAY 22, 2018

Leclerc plays down Senna, Schumacher comparisons

Charles Leclerc has played down any comparisons being made between him and true F1 greats.

Charles Leclerc has played down any comparisons being made between him and true F1 greats.

The Monaco-born driver made his formula one debut this year with Sauber amid suggestions he is set to become a future Michael Schumacher or Ayrton Senna.

"Of course it's a great honour to be associated with those names already," Leclerc, 20, said ahead of his first home grand prix in the Principality.

"But I try to ignore this sort of thing because I still have a lot to learn in formula one," the Ferrari-backed reigning F2 champion added.

But even Alain Prost, a F1 legend and quadruple world champion, has praised Leclerc.

"That gives me a lot of confidence as well," Leclerc said in an interview with Blick newspaper. "We've known each other for a long time because he has a house in the south of France."

And he said duelling on track with another great like Fernando Alonso is also helping him.

"When you fight with such an aggressive driver and a two-time world champion, you will learn twice as much as you do with most other drivers," said Leclerc.

"And Fernando started at the back too, with Minardi," he smiled.

2018 actually didn't start easily for Leclerc, but he says he is finally getting up to speed in formula one now.

"The more information you have about the car, the more confidence you get," he said. "Maybe that was missing in the first two races. You make mistakes.

"In addition, the jump from Formula 2 to formula one is much bigger than you can imagine. The tyre management is a science in its own right," Leclerc added.

(GMM)