'He left me': Ferrari young gun 'dumps model girlfriend to focus on F1'

Charles Leclerc has reportedly made an extraordinary personal sacrifice in his bid to snare his maiden Formula One world championship.

According to multiple reports, Leclerc has split with model girlfriend Giada Gianni so he can focus on his F1 pursuits.

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Italian Gianni, 21, is said to have announced the split during an Instagram live video.

According to Vanity Fair she said: "Charles left me. He wants to devote himself only to Ferrari."

Leclerc, also 21, finished third in the recent Russian Grand Prix behind the Mercedes duo of Lewis Hamilton and Valtteri Bottas.

He’s arguably the best young driver in F1 and currently trails Hamilton by 107 points in the championship.

Leclerc matches Schumacher feat

Ferrari team chief Mattia Binotto praised Leclerc's natural speed after the Monegasque on Saturday claimed his fourth consecutive pole position ahead of the Russian GP.

Binotto said he had been surprised by Leclerc's pure pace this season and the speed at which the young driver is learning – in only his second year in Formula One.

Leclerc's pole success was his sixth this year and marked the seventh successive event at which he has out-qualified his teammate four-time champion German Sebastian Vettel.

"He surprised me how fast he is at first," said Binotto. "I think he's really very fast and that's something which is important for a team when you can count on a driver who is so fast.

"That's the most you may have. Certainly, in the races where maybe we are not our best, he can somehow try to compensate and in the races he is learning.

"And then, in the races, he's learning. He's learning very fast how to manage the tyres, how to manage the entire race distance -- and I think, since the start of the year, his speed improved quite a lot."

Leclerc's success made him the first Ferrari driver since Michael Schumacher, who reeled off seven in a row from 2000-2001, to claim four poles in succession.

The only other drivers to record seven straight poles are Ayrton Senna, who had eight poles spanning 1988 and 1989, Alain Prost and Hamilton.

with AFP