Leclerc set to 'ignore' comparisons to Schumacher and Senna

Charles Leclerc has insisted he is going to try and "ignore" comparisons to Formula One legends like Ayrton Senna and Michael Schumacher, but remains honoured by some quarters of the sport likening him to two of the greatest drivers of all time.

Leclerc is in his maiden season in F1, featuring for Alfa-Romeo Sauber even as he remains a member of Ferrari's driving academy. The 20-year-old is the current Formula Two champion, and is tipped to be a future world champion by figures such as Alain Prost and Niki Lauda.

However, Leclerc displayed a maturity when asked about the comparisons with legendary drivers.

"Of course it's a great honour to be associated with those names already," he told Blick.

"But I try to ignore this sort of thing because I still have a lot to learn in Formula 1."

On the praise from Prost, he added: "That gives me a lot of confidence as well. We've known each other for a long time because he has a house in the South of France."

Leclerc believes one of the major factors in his development has been battling, on occasion, with the likes of Fernando Alonso towards the middle and back of the grid, and admits he is finally getting to grips with life in F1 after making the step-up from F2.

"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," he said.

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

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

"In addition, the jump from Formula 2 to Formula 1 is much bigger than you can imagine. The tyre management is a science in its own right."