Charles Leclerc has played down any comparisons being made between him and true Formula 1 greats.

The Monaco-born driver made his F1 debut this year with Sauber amid suggestions he is set to become a future Michael Schumacher or Ayrton Senna.

"Of course it's a great honour to be associated with those names already," Leclerc, 20, told Blick.

"But I try to ignore this sort of thing because I still have a lot to learn in Formula 1," the Ferrari-backed reigning F2 champion added.

Even Alain Prost, a F1 legend and quadruple world champion, has praised Leclerc.

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

Leclerc said that duelling on track with another great like Fernando Alonso is also helping him.

"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."

2018 actually did not start easily for Leclerc, but he says that he is finally getting up to speed in Formula 1 now.

"The more information you have about the car, the more confidence you get," he said. "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."

The season continues with the Monaco Grand Prix on Sunday.