Leclerc: A lot of emotions but I’m trying to stay calm

While the accolades pour in for his achievement, which made him the second youngest F1 pole winner in the sport's history, most notable was the manner in which he beat Vettel by nearly three-tenths of a second.

Afterwards, he said, “I’m truly happy. Obviously, in the last race, I was not very happy with my qualifying lap, especially in Q3. I tried really hard not to do the same mistakes here and it worked. I’m very satisfied, I put my best three sectors together, which is what I wanted – but of course, you can always do better.

“There are a lot of emotions. I’m trying to stay as calm as possible as no points are awarded for pole. I will enjoy the moment, it’s been a great day and a great weekend overall for us so far. I hope it continues. Now we focus on the race and try and do the best race possible."

Leclerc's rise has been somewhat meteoric, after only one season with Sauber last year he did enough to convince the powers at Maranello that he was the real deal for the job.

When asked if he felt the pressure of expectations driving for the world's most famous team, he replied, “I didn’t have any expectations."

"I was completely aware of how much of a big step there is team-wise and competition-wise and of the drivers I’m now fighting with, the best. I am just happy it started like this but it’s only qualifying. I hope we are strong tomorrow.”

During the season opener in Australia, Ferrari were quick to bark out team orders to Leclerc when he came upon Vettel late during the race in Bahrain, the 21-year-old told to hold station behind the #5 car.

Asked if he would adhere to team orders again, “To be honest, we haven’t done the pre-race meeting yet so at the moment I don’t know. I’ll do everything to keep my first place, but we are a team, we have to work together.”

Vettel, who will start from second place, added, “It’s clear, from a team point of view, we have the front row today and we have a tough race ahead of us tomorrow. We have to work as a team and make sure we stay first and second. Charles starts ahead so he has the advantage of pole position.

“Congratulations to him, it’s his day. My day was not ideal, even with an ideal day, it would have been difficult to beat him today. My first pole was a while ago but certainly, it’s a day you never forget.”