Ferrari's reluctance to promote young drivers has in the past at least partly been founded on questions about how they might cope in the highly pressured situation of driving for F1's most famous team. I would have expected us to be much more like this if the championship will be extremely close towards the end. [If] it's not finished, then we might see that at the end of the year." Golf and the new generation Leclerc says a lot of Formula 1 drivers enjoy playing golf

It depends on the situation, on the person you're facing, your opponent," he says. "How far is he willing to go? I don't even know myself because it's such a frustrating sport!" Leclerc says. "And I always get super-frustrated because whenever I play with them, I don't play well. So I think, mentally, it's a very good exercise and that's why we love it so much as drivers." Leclerc came through the junior ranks alongside fellow future F1 drivers George Russell, (left) and Alex Albon (right) The climax to the season Our Mini Cutouts make unique and exciting presents for fans and are especially popular as secret Santa gifts.Let's say that we know we need to work on that," he says. "We want to do absolutely everything to get better in every single thing we do, and obviously looking at the first part of this season, there have been some strategy problems, there have been some reliability problems and there have been driving mistakes. So there won't be any significant change. We just need to try and work as a team to put a weekend together for the nine remaining races and see where we end up." When we were younger, it was a bit more messy and obviously we were kids. But now the relationship has improved, and there's a lot of respect." Parachuting Leclerc into Ferrari for 2019 provides a chance to begin to answer the question, for he is team-mate to four-time world champion Sebastian Vettel. The German is one of F1's elite, but Leclerc's potential is such that many expect him to give Vettel a run for his money.

Three days after his father's death in that summer of 2017, Leclerc had to race in Baku in Formula 2. The personal torment can only be imagined, but he put his car on pole by more than half a second, and won the first race. That meant a start in eighth for the second race, which he also won, although a 10-second penalty demoted him to second. Our Cutouts are folded down for delivery but setting them up is simple and takes seconds. They can always be folded away again for storage or moving. On the other hand, Verstappen has also made two obvious mistakes - going off in Spain and spinning in Hungary - it's just that his have not been as costly; he recovered to win each time. But if there any ambiguous situations at the beginning of the season, Sebastian is the one with more experience (and has had) many years with us. He already won championships so he is our champion." Leclerc now has three weeks to rest and recuperate before he tries to salvage his season over an intense period of nine races in 12 weeks.It was very hard to take," Leclerc remembers, "because I lost him on the Wednesday just before the race so it was very fresh. I really feel like this first part of the season has been my strongest in F1 and I think the way I have worked," Leclerc says, "and the way we have worked as a team - in terms of finding the right set-up, in terms of building up to the qualifying lap in Q3, or just preparing the race - has been the best I have ever done in F1. We use only the finest materials to make our Charles Leclerc (Jumper) Cardboard Cutouts and every one carries the unique Celebrity Cutouts Hologram - your assurance of excellence.

But it's Ferrari's operational errors that have really hit home. In both Monaco and Silverstone, pit-stop calls demoted Leclerc from the lead to fourth place. In Hungary last weekend, it was an incorrect tyre strategy that converted a lead into sixth place at the flag.F1 is a merciless environment that brutally exposes any weaknesses, and some drivers wilt under the light upon them. Driving for Ferrari - effectively an Italian national team, with expectations high, and every nuance micro-analysed - magnifies the intensity of the situation by a considerable amount. We use only the finest materials to make our Cutouts and every one carries the unique Celebrity Cutouts Hologram - your assurance of excellence.

So there's a lot more off-time, and time where I'm not doing much at home and in between the races. This year, either I had a big advantage in the championship and then you are not really willing to take those risks. Or he had a big advantage in the championship and he is not really willing to risk. Or I am not really willing to risk because I need to catch up points.But for now I'm just focusing on myself, trying to improve every lap I am doing in the car. It is a top team, and there are procedures that are quite different to the team I was in before. There is a bit of adaptation." 2019 may only be his second season in F1, but Leclerc has already seen plenty of action His father is the not the only person close to him Leclerc has lost on the way up. He was also godson to the former F1 driver Jules Bianchi, who died in July 2015 of head injuries sustained in a crash during the 2014 Japanese Grand Prix.