I left school to concentrate on racing. It was a family decision between my mum, dad and myself.

The Pirellis you can push for a couple of laps and then you've got to start saving. It's not easy.

I am sure there's going to be times when I do things wrong that no one's going to like and everyone's going to think I'm terrible and rubbish but I know I'm going to go through those times, and it's just about understanding that that's going to happen.

That's one of the biggest things. Never being home, always traveling, having different interests and focusing on different things, just the time aspect of going back home and seeing them, you don't have that at all. It was a big sacrifice but, at the end of the day, it was worth it.

F2 cars have downforce; they're quick. But it's difficult for your brain and eyes to keep up with everything that's going on once you're in an F1 car. You get used to it and you learn to stay calm, because if you react too quickly the opposite will happen. Being more relaxed is when it becomes more natural and controlled.

If McLaren give me a car, that's fine, but I don't tend to buy fancy stuff anyway or super-nice clothes.

On the RFactor model that comes with the 'Pro-Sim,' everything is balanced and measured. If you go up on the rear ride height, for example, it changes the airflow and the downforce of the car. You learn by trying different things, which gives you a better idea when you're on a race weekend.

I am sure as everyone knows that I am not the happiest if I don't do a good job in qualifying or the race.

Every time I get in the McLaren I feel more comfortable, my confidence increases and I feel more at home with the team.

It's what counts, isn't it, on the Sunday, rather than pre-season testing. If you lock up, you do a little mistake, it's nothing, but if you do it on Sunday, you lose a place or you have to box for a flat spot or something like that. It's a much bigger problem.

I guess for every driver the aim is to beat their teammate.

I had to drive with a roof in LMP2, and I managed to get used to that quite quickly - although it's still not a Halo, it's still different to what I'm used to.

I liked watching Rossi, his style, his colours and everything. He was someone I looked up to and until now he is still my only hero. He is the king of motorbikes and most people like Rossi mainly because he comes across as a pretty fun and good character. He is cool and has a good style and look.

Joining McLaren didn't add a lot of pressure but of course you want to make sure you can impress them.

I had a much better view with the halo than I expected.

I'm sure like everyone else I'm not always the happiest if I don't do a good job in quali or the race or whatever, so I think beating myself up sometimes makes me work harder.

It's just trying to do the best job I can in these opportunities that I get to show what I can do, be consistent, have good feedback, be fast, at the same time not make mistakes.

I'm loving my role as a McLaren Young Driver, spending time in the simulator at the McLaren Technology Centre and attending some Grands Prix with the team.

On the sim at home, you can change downforce levels, roll bars, springs, ride heights - you can try all these different things.

I think beating myself up sometimes and knowing I am not happy when I do it makes me work harder to do a good job.

Having the support from everyone, the bosses, whoever within the team, definitely makes it much easier for me as a driver.

I kind of look up to Lewis, not as a hero, but as a very good driver who is very fast. Everyone has to admire his pace, especially in qualifying. He is a driver I support, in terms of him being British, and I want him to win, but he isn't an idol to me.

I used to watch MotoGP quite a bit, I liked MotoGP. I had a motorbike before I had a go-kart and before I had a motorbike I had a quad bike but I was too dangerous, and before I did quad biking I did horse riding, so it's been a long journey.

There's definitely going to be things that I'm not very good at, things I can improve.

No driver is perfect.

I know a lot of people say they always believed they could get into F1, but I didn't quite believe that, certainly not when I was 7 and maybe not until I was 14. It was always so far away.

There's so many bits on a car these days it's hard to know where everything is. You have a bit of an idea but if you are behind someone and you suddenly change direction it's hard to know exactly where the car is.

I haven't gone out of my way to seek advice from people I don't know.

It's rule number one, really - beating your teammate.

In testing, you make a mistake, you just say 'OK we'll have another go' instead of it being the only chance you get.

Every driver is different, so I just hope whatever I do is going to be good enough, because it's not that I just want to be with McLaren. I want to win with McLaren.

I like to paint my own helmets. I design my own suit and boots, I like being unique in that way.

I don't know who I would have been if I never watched MotoGP.

How you go about testing is just very different to just being in the situation of qualifying, having to go out, having to nail the lap.

I tend not to really think about what other people say. I'd rather just try and focus on what I'm doing, try and win basically.

Getting in and out of the car with the halo takes a bit of experience. I struggled initially, but after a few trial runs I was fine.

I don't like going to the gym. My biggest focus is the neck and endurance. I wear this 'Fifty Shades of Grey' harness, with a resistance trainer pulling against it.

I've missed out on a lot of things, going out with friends.

I saw MotoGP on TV first, before I saw F1 and other types of car racing. It's what I got more into. It was cool, there was good, exciting racing.

It's not like I'm nervous of people seeing what I can or can't do on camera or on TV or anything, or what my engineers think.

My favourite car I drove in the 'shoot out' at Silverstone was the 2016 Mercedes DTM car. I loved every moment in it, the downforce being particularly surprising.

I'm definitely more one of the drivers who would want to do Daytona, Le Mans, and the Indy 500.

It seems like F1 is kind of going down that route, opening it up more to the public and letting them know what is going on, what you do, instead of just driving and going home.

I just get annoyed at myself. A lot of swearing goes on generally when I am driving.

If I make a mistake and finish 10th when we should have finished ninth, then I will be unhappy.

I don't like drinking, basically.

I enjoy driving on the sim, doing stuff like that, staying at home.

I do things I love doing. Sometimes that is maybe going out to have a drink with friends, going out partying or whatever.

There are going to be things I'm not going to be great at, times when I make mistakes, 100%.

If I want to do well in racing I need to be more focused so I stopped going to school. If I wasn't a very good driver it would not be a wise decision, but it gives me an advantage over my competitors.