Leclerc not thinking of Ferrari debut...yet

Charles Leclerc has confessed that he is waiting until the end of the season to "fully focus" on his 2019 debut for Ferrari in Formula One, saying that, for the moment, his goal is to finish the season on a high with Sauber.

The Monegasque driver is viewed as one of the most exciting young drivers in motorsport and it was recently announced that he would replace Kimi Raikkonen at the Prancing Horse for the beginning of the 2019 campaign to become the second-youngest driver in the team's history.

When previewing the Russian Grand Prix, he was asked whether his mind was already on his debut with Ferrari, but he insists that will have to wait.

“First of all I have to finish this season on a high which is, for now, the main importance to me," said Leclerc.

"There's still six races to go. So I will try first to focus on that. It’s a dream come true to be racing for Ferrari next year but I’m trying to take it out of my mind to focus fully on the end of this season.

“You can always improve. I still think that I can learn in everything. The target for the end of the season is to try to keep our form.

“It’s not going to be easy because as the team already mentioned, they are starting to focus on next year’s car. I believe some other teams are still pushing to gain points in the championship. It's not an easy situation to be in but we will try to keep our form.”

Leclerc is in his rookie season in F1 but has impressed with Sauber, having secured six top-10 finishes so far.

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