Ferrari have rewarded Charles Leclerc with a unique gift, his 2019 race-winning Formula 1 car also his first as a full-time driver for the sport's most successful team.
As a gesture of the team's immense faith in the 23-year-old from Monaco, the Ferrari SF90 he drove to his first victory at Spa-Francorchamps that year and following it up with victory at the next round at Monza.
A famous one it was and the last one he scored for the team thus far. He also celebrated a further eight times on the podium thanks to the car that he now owns.
As for the value of the car, it would be impossible but to say that one of two cars built at Maranello with a budget tickling a half-billion dollars that year, and one wonders if it will ever be driven in anger again or even in historic events considering how complex the modern era cars are to run.
Leclerc is Ferrari's 'homegrown boy' who the team have locked into driving for them until the end of 2024; his arrival in 2019, after a season with Alfa Romeo thanks to the backing from Maranello, marked the beginning of the end of Sebastian Vettel's reign as the number one in the team.
The German was well outshone by his younger teammate, departing the team last year, replaced by Carlos Sainz.
Last year, the Reds gifted the 2018 Ferrari SF71H to Kimi Raikkonen, who is their last F1 world champion (2009) and won his last race for the team at 2018 United States Grand Prix.
In 'handing the keys' to the SF90 to Leclerc, Ferrari wrote the following uncryptic Tweet:
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