Charles Leclerc has revealed the reasons behind his decision t♔o choose #16 as his permanent number in Formula 1 ahead of his debut in▨ 2018 with Alfa Romeo Sauber.

Ferrari junior Leclerc will step up to F1 next year after dominating the Formula 2 championship through 20๊17, with his promotion being confirmed by Sauber at the start of this month.

Leclerc selected #16 as his permanent number to use in F1 throughout his career, but revealed that it was in fact his third choice for a number as Kimi Raikkonen and Pierre Gasly were ꦡalready using his desired picks.

"It’s quite simple to be honest," ღLeclercℱ explained. "I wanted number 7 first, but Kimi had it.

"Then I chose 10, but Pierre came to F1 and chose number 10, so then I chose number 1🦋6.

"It’s just my date of birth ༒and I could not find anything better. And 1 🉐+ 6 = 7, which is my favourite number."

Lecl♎erc also revealed that he found out about the Sauber drive on the final day of the post-season test in Abu Dhabi, despite having been long-rum🉐oured to be in line for a seat.

"It was the 🤪last day of the test in Abu Dhabi. Fred [Vasseur] called me and told me I would be the race driver for Alfa Romeo Sauber for 2018.

"As for any driver siജgning 🐼their first contract, it felt absolutely amazing. You feel like you have achieved something you always wanted. I always wanted to be a Formula 1 driver since I started karting really.

"But bei▨ng in Formula 1 does not mean you are going to stay for long. So I need to work already to make the best season possible next year an♕d hopefully have a successful career in F1.

"It will need a lot of work from my side."