Ferrari Academy driver Charles Leclerc says he is missing his late godfather's advice and guidance as he embarked upon his first test of a current Ferrari at Silverstone on Tuesday.
Leclerc is a close friend of the Bianchi family, whilst the former Marussia driver Jules Bianchi was his godfather.
The 18-year-old made his debut in a current Formula 1 car during first practice last weekend with the Haas team. He impressed and was handed a day's running in the Ferrari SF16 during the Silverstone in-season test this week.
Speaking about the test, which he described as "very special", Leclerc admitted he was missing the advice Bianchi used to offer him.
"I knew him from when I was really, really young," the Monegasque racer is quoted as saying by Autosport. "He was my godfather and he helped me with most of the things in racing.
"Obviously now it's hard without him because he always helped me, and I miss his help.
"He advised me really well in the past, and all his comments he gave me in the past I keep in mind and try not to make the errors he told me not to do."
With the Ferrari Driver Academy yet to produce a graduate to Ferrari's F1 team, Leclerc is confident Bianchi would have been the first had it not been for his accident and confident is it will do so soon.
"Jules was one of the talents who would have gone there if the things that happened hadn't have happened," added Leclerc.
"But I'm definitely confident the driver academy will have someone who will make it into the top team."
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