Quotes from Charles Leclerc

Obviously being third in the Formula 1 world championship would be crazy.

From GP3 to Formula 2, it's obviously a step, but it's only a step on driving I would say. Here from Formula 2 to Formula 1, it's a huge step on driving because we have nearly 400 BHP more, with a lot more downforce. So it's a completely different car.

Since I was a child I've been looking up to Formula One. Dreaming to be a Formula One driver.

I did not expect to have, at the end of my first season, seven poles and two wins. This is crazy. I did not expect it.

I think it would be very exciting to do a track like Silverstone the other way around, to arrive so quick in Becketts and then Maggotts would be very exciting.

I did not have the simulator for a long time but now I have it I am playing quite a lot - probably five hours a day. I am training to try to be competitive, and everything we do we want to be competitive as drivers.

Out of the car I am normal, calm. In the car I want to give my best. It is passion, when you are passionate about something you give everything. I change quite a lot when I am in the car.

I like the danger, I like the adrenaline and I need it to race.

When I think about it, it is quite crazy to race against people like Fernando Alonso, when I remember watching him from the balcony in Monaco.

With less and less races people will want to take more risks.

To be completely honest, I am obsessed with Formula 1 so in the off-season I would like to have just a few more races to still race in F1.

Somehow when I am at the racetrack, I don't really realise what is happening and I just focus on the job.

The moment I prefer is the moment I put on the helmet, that everyone is leaving the pit lane, that I'm alone with the car and there it feels good. You don't have any feelings anymore; it's just racing and this I enjoy.

I believe what matters are facts and behaviours in our daily life rather than formal gestures.

The red car, even before I knew it was called Ferrari, was my obsession.

I've always been very hard on myself, it's the way that works with me.

My ambition is to one day be in Formula 1 and hopefully become world champion.

My dream as a child was being a world champion.

What I have always liked about Italians is the way they are serious when they need to be but know how to relax and have a laugh, too.

As soon as I signed with Ferrari it was clear to me that people expected big performances from me. Even though people were realistic enough to see that I was only starting my second season and that I still had a lot to learn.

I think I am my own biggest critic, yeah.

It is a dream since a child to drive for the red cars.

At first, when I arrived at Ferrari, I was very intimidated by all the people there, by Ferrari itsel. This name is the biggest in motorsports.

I get on well with Italians. Which makes things easier when I meet, for example, my future mechanics at Ferrari.