Charles🉐 Leclerc says securing his first two Formula 1 race wins actsജ as evidence Ferrari were right to promote him to the team in just his second year in the championship and silences his critics.

Ferrari cre🍸ated headlines last year signing Leclerc in just his second season in the sport with experienced hand Kimi Raikkonen going the opposite way to Alfa Romeo.

Havi𝔉ng shown flashes of quality at the start of this season, notably leading the Bahrain Grand Prix before a mechanical issue robbed him of victory, Leclerc came under fire for mistakes – most notable crashing during qualifying at the Azerbaija🤪n Grand Prix having been the quickest driver all weekend.

Leclerc, who has bben openly critical of his own mistakes, feels taking victory in both Belgium and Italy acts as evidence to back Ferrari’s decision to p𒆙romote him at the age of 21.

“It has not been an easy start to the season, I made a few mistakes, but it is not an excuse,” Leclerc said. “I’ve grown a lot since the beginning of the seaꦕson.

“I understood the critics of last year, me being too young as it is my second year in F1 and in Ferrari already was early for sure, but I can only th♎ank Ferrari for believing in me. They had a lot of data which they analysed.

“It was not an easy decision.𝓡 In the 💛end, I’m happy to have these kinds of results which show that I was maybe more ready than some people thought.”

Describing the pressure he withstood from the attacking Mercedes duo of Lewis Hamilton and Valtteri Bottas during the Italian Grand Prix, Leclerc says he was aware of the significance of his victory at Monza – marking Ferrari’s first home ﷽win since 2010.

“I don’t know 💮how you say it in English: Libération? Freedom. More or less this,” he said about his Italian GP win. “How many laps were there in the race? 53 laps felt a lot longer thꦦan 53 laps.

“As I’ve said, I felt a lot of pressure from behind. So, obviously, from once I crossed the finish line ൲it is just pure🦂 happiness.”

Leclerc has also lifted himself above Ferrari teammate Sebastian Vettel in the F1 ඣstandings, taking fourth place off the German driver, while he has closed up to just three points behind Re🥂d Bull’s Max Verstappen in third place in the drivers’ championship.