Charles Leclerc isn’t your average 19-year-old

A KILLER lap time from a Ferrari prodigy has turned heads in the Formula 1 community as veterans heap on the praise.

Remember the name. This kid's going places.

WHAT were you doing at 19?

Most of us were floating through uni, pinching pennies for the next round and grinding through the final year of our green P plates.

GP3 champion Charles Leclerc — who is now currently sitting pretty in first place in Formula 2 — is someone your teenage self would be bitterly envious of.

The 19-year-old has taken the motorsport world by storm by establishing a massive lead over second-placed Oliver Rowland, firming as the favourite to take out this year’s championship with a dominant 50-point lead.

If he wins, it’ll be the first time a rookie has claimed a Formula 2 crown since 2009 when Renault driver Nico Hulkenberg bested teammate Pastor Maldonado by 64 points.

The Monte Carlo native’s impressive 2017 season prompted Ferrari’s Driver Academy to offer him a taste of Formula 1 in Hungary, giving him one of the sport’s powerful new vehicles to blast around the circuit and get a feel of what could be his future career.

Leclerc gunned through 98 laps on the Hungaroring track, clocking an impressive 1:17.124 lap time and falling just 0.622sec short of F1 championship leader Sebastian Vettel’s best time over the F1 weekend.

Ferrari’s Kimi Raikkonen was suitably impressed, heaping praise on the up-and-comer and tipping him as a future star on motorsport’s most glamorous circuit.

“It’s good if he’s happy with the whole team helping him,” Raikkonen said via Motorsport.com. “It’s always tricky to come and drive a different car than you’re used to.

“But he has time on his side, he’s shown good progress and for sure in the future he will do good things.”

Charles Leclerc isn't your average 19-year-old.

Leclerc’s head-turning performance has enhanced his dream of sealing his place in the prestigious top 20.

“Obviously as I said I need to impress as many people as I can and I will give my best to do that,” Leclerc said. “Then if I have an opportunity at the end of the year I will grab it with two hands but for now I am just focusing on Formula 2.

“I’m satisfied. It’s always important to impress anybody. But to be honest it wasn’t really the main goal (of the test run). The main goal was to get mileage in the car, try to do the best job I could for them and I hope they have seen some good bits about me.”

Leclerc’s hot run with Ferrari’s Driver Academy has generated a lot of interest around his future as media outlets jump on his success.

“Seeing my name in the media more often and having it linked to Formula 1 and Ferrari is nice,” he said.

“But it’s not putting any extra pressure on me. I am focusing on what I have to do with (current team) Prema, leaving others to think about my future.

“Being in Formula 1 is my dream and my goal and I am doing everything I can to make it happen.

“Racing for the Scuderia would be the realisation of a dream.”