Charles Leclerc has been one of the stand-out stars of Esports since the outbreak of coronavirus forced everyone to stay at home.
Not known for his online gaming before the shutdown, Leclerc quickly got up to speed and brought the same laser-like focus and intensity to his virtual racing as he did to the cockpit in the real world, with back-to-back wins in recent Virtual Grand Prix events in Bahrain and Shanghai.
But such total absorption comes at a price, and this week it was paid not by Leclerc but by his 20-year-old girlfriend Charlotte Sine, who found herself waiting on the doorstep when he was too wrapped up in his Esport session to answer the door.
Leclerc was so engrossed in his live Twitch stream that the only way Charlotte could get his attention was to sign up to his pay-for channel - where she promptly left a message on his channel asking him to let her in!
"My girlfriend had to buy a subcription to my Twitch to be able to ask me in the channel chat if I could open the front door [for her]," Leclerc posted later on social media site Twitter.
"She waited 25 mins downstairs as I couldn't hear my phone," he added. "I had the headphones [on] and was very focused on my rally race.
"She only subscribed one month though..." he added wryly, meaning that Charlotte had offered up a whopping AU$9 just to make him take notice of her situation.
As soon as he saw the message, Charles jumped out of his high-spec gaming rig in order to go to his partner's aid and finally let her into the apartment.
. @Charles_Leclerc : "So my girlfriend had to subscribe to my twitch channel to tell me to open the door." 🤣
(Charlotte forgot her keys at home)https://t.co/Hja90wZ0Rn#F1 #Charles16 pic.twitter.com/dyXYZGNfd1
— Charles Leclerc Fan Page (@LeclercNews) May 16, 2020
Naturally Leclerc's rival Lando Norris was quick to jump on the Monegasque's embarrassment, quipping: "Sub only mode... ugh"
The incident certainly went down well with the many fans who follow Leclerc on social media, including one commenter who posted: "Someone's gonna be in the naughty corner for the rest of the day!"
Charles and Charlotte have only been dating for a few months, after Leclerc split from his previous girlfriend Giada Gianni to focus on his driving exploits.
It seems that the two have been living together from the start of the lockdown in northern Italy. Charlotte regularly posts pictures of them together on her Instagram page, which has more than 50,000 followers.
Gallery: The beautiful wives and girlfriends of F1 drivers
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