On what is probably the biggest week in the career of Charles Leclerc, the Sauber driver has been praised by four-time world champion Sebastian Vettel.

The young Monegasque arrived in Formula 1 with a great deal of anticipation after clinching both the GP3 and F2 titles at the first attempt before making the move up to the Swiss team for 2018.

His start to his rookie season had been somewhat mooted but that changed when, after altering his driving style, he scored his first points in an excellent drive in Baku and followed it up with a 10th place finish last time out in Spain.

This weekend is different for the 20-year-old, however, as he becomes the first driver from Monaco (rather than one who has moved there) to line-up on the grid for F1's most famous Grand Prix since Olivier Beretta in 1994.

Already, he has met with Prince Albert II at the palace and in the press conference on Wednesday was part of the four-driver line-up in front of the media when Vettel was asked if the excitement surrounding Leclerc was deserved.

“I think the hype is absolutely justified,” said the German. “If there is no hype around him then I don’t understand who can be hyped.

“If you walk through all the categories like that then you belong here.”

What makes those comments particularly powerful is Leclerc is the leading member of Ferrari's young driver academy with many expecting him to one day make the jump into a Prancing Horse.

Some think that moment could come as soon as next year, while others believe possibly he is the eventual replacement for Vettel, whose current contract expires in 2020.

Considering whether Charles was worthy of the chance with the Italian team, Sebastian added: “I’m not signing who’s sitting next to me, probably you should ask Maurizio [Arrivabene, team boss], but I don’t see why not.

“Obviously he has more years. The races he had so far, he used his opportunities and scored points with a car that doesn’t belong in the points so he’s doing everything he can at the moment.”

As for Leclerc himself, he is taking everything in his stride and refuses to get carried away by comparisons some have made to F1 greats such as Ayrton Senna and Michael Schumacher.

“Of course it’s a great honour to be associated with those names already,” he was quoted by PlanetF1.

“But I try to ignore this sort of thing because I still have a lot to learn in Formula 1.”