I’m Business columnist David Lazarus, with a look today not at holiday shopping but at the avalanche of returned goods that inevitably follows all the gift giving.

A recent report from Oracle Retail, a division of software giant Oracle, found that 77% of consumers said they plan to return at least some of the goodies they receive this holiday season. Twenty percent said they’ll be likely to return more than half their gifts.

Younger people are the most fickle, Oracle observed, with Generation Z being the most likely demographic to say thanks but no thanks to a present.

“Retailers need to seize the moment when shoppers return gifts,” said Jeff Warren, vice president of retail solutions management for Oracle Retail.

That doesn’t just mean being sufficiently staffed to handle the deluge (although, speaking on behalf of all consumers, that would be nice, thanks).

Warren said all these returns — and the implicit interactions that accompany them — represent a “significant opportunity for retailers to build better customer profiles and generate new opportunities for engagement.”

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It remains to be seen if retailers will rise to that challenge. For many consumers, the returns process is just a final stress point of a stressful few weeks or months.

To make it easier to stomach, here are some helpful tips:

• Bring a receipt. Duh. This may not be a dealbreaker for all merchants, but it will definitely make things go faster and smoother.
• Be prompt. If you want to exchange something for a different size or color, you’ll have better luck if you don’t procrastinate. Otherwise, your options may be limited.
• Don’t remove tags until you decide something’s a keeper. Many stores will balk at returns of tagless clothing.
• When returning stuff purchased online, make sure you understand the merchant’s return policies and procedures. Some, like Amazon, make it relatively easy. Others seem to make the process as difficult as possible.
• Be nice. This is a tough time as well for salespeople. A little patience and decency can go a long way in greasing the return wheels.

Now then, here are a couple of recent stories from our pages worth highlighting:

Utility profits: The California Public Utilities Commission ruled that profit margins will remain the same at the state’s major utilities, denying the companies the higher shareholder returns they had sought. Pacific Gas & Electric, Southern California Edison and San Diego Gas & Electric had argued that higher profits were necessary to keep attracting sufficient capital to fund their operations.

Happy landings: Building a rocket is tough enough. Building a parachute attached to a spacecraft is where you really earn your engineering degree. The Rube Goldberg-esque sequence involves explosives, precise timing and battles against pressure and high winds. If it’s done right, astronauts touch down safely. If not, the crew can be killed on impact.

Recalls

General Motors is recalling more than 900,000 vehicles worldwide in two separate campaigns to address brake issues and fire risks. More than 550,000 2019 Chevrolet Silverado 1500, Cadillac CT6 and GMC Sierra 1500 vehicles are being recalled due to a potential software glitch that could disable vehicle brake systems.

Chicken soup may be a cure-all, but the U.S. Department of Agriculture announced the recall of chicken soup produced by Canada’s Canyon Creek Soup. The soups contain allergens that aren’t on the label, including wheat and soy.

Spare change

‘Tis the season for returns, so here are some songs with “return” in the title (not including the obvious one by Elvis). Kansas has a classic with “Point of Know Return.” The Cure’s offering is simply titled “Return.” The Bangles serve up “a song about the U.S. postal system.” Then there’s this one from the Romanian-German group Enigma (remember them?), which was important to my wife for about a week in the 1990s.

Let me know what you think of the newsletter. My email is [email protected], or you can find me on Twitter @Davidlaz. Also, tell all your social media pals to join the party.

Until next time, see you in the Business section.

Former U.S. ambassador to Italy and San Marino Ronald Spogli has sold a home in Bel-Air for $7.5 million through a trust in his name, public records show.

During the diplomat’s ownership the gated Georgian Traditional underwent a major renovation of its 6,074 square feet of interiors. Beyond the front portico is a formal entry leading to dining, living and family rooms as well as a spacious kitchen outfitted with an island and a wine fridge. French doors open to the backyard.

The five bedrooms and 5.5 bathrooms include an upstairs master suite with a marble bath.

Built in 1933, the brick two-story is surrounded by more than three-quarters of an acre of manicured gardens and grounds.

The property previously sold 10 years ago for $4.4 million.

Spogli, a venture capitalist, served under the Obama and George W. Bush administrations.

Josh Flagg and Shane McCoy Fermelia of Rodeo Realty were the listing agents. Rayni Williams of Hilton & Hyland represented the buyer.

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I met M. on Tinder. When we matched I’d been swiping without the intention of actually meeting anyone. I’d added several sexy photos to my profile, linked the 1975’s “Love It If We Made It” and wrote a disclaimer: “Here to look at your pics and fantasize about the relationship we’ll never have.”

I’d become jaded.

I also didn’t view myself as a good catch because I was still sorting things out — like finding an apartment, establishing a career and generally figuring out my purpose in life.

But back to M. For our first date I met him at his apartment in North Hollywood and we drove to Iroha Sushi in Studio City. I remember one of my friends cautioned me, “Don’t meet at his apartment! You’ll never make it to the restaurant.” But M. seemed different. He was waiting for me in the lobby and greeted me with a Tom Ford cologne-scented hug. “You hungry?” he asked as we walked through the garage to his black Lexus coupe. He was from Israel and spoke with an accent. He wore a red-and-black-checkered flannel, a T-shirt cut low enough to reveal some modest chest hair, and black Vans.

Over dinner we talked about his mandatory three years in the Israeli army, his family and his two-year marriage that ended in divorce a year earlier. Things were going well, so we continued the date at El Tejano for drinks before heading back to his place. We hooked up but I didn’t sleep over — ironically that was too intimate for me.

As he’d requested, I texted him when I got home and he said, “Next time you should stay.”

“I should,” I replied, making a point to be neutral and noncommittal.

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I’d had a great time but didn’t feel a spark. Or maybe I was just used to these things not going anywhere.

But the next day he reached out to me. He gave me text play-by-plays of his day, complete with pictures of his breakfast spread and a video-pan of the scene of a pool party at the Hollywood Roosevelt. He asked if he could pick me up on his way home. (I said yes because I’d been going through a dry spell before our date and welcomed the new sex.)

He drove me to work that night after we hung out at his place. During the drive we bonded over our similar taste in music while he held my hand. After he dropped me off he continued to text me until he went to sleep. He told me to call him when I woke up. This became a regular thing — us saying good morning and keeping in touch throughout our days.

I kept waiting for him to be a jerk or inconsiderate, but the moment never came. I couldn’t believe I’d finally met someone and we were hitting it off.

Things were going so well it started to give me anxiety.

It felt too good to be true.

I started doubting how worthy I was of M’s attention and affection. I made a conscious effort to stop these thoughts as soon as they came up. I repeated mantras affirming that I deserved to be happy. Another thing I grappled with was how balanced his life was. He divided his time among working, hanging out with friends, being with family and pursuing personal hobbies.

At one point we went 10 days without seeing each other because of his full schedule. It frustrated me, but I also recognized that it was a good thing he didn’t center his world around a romantic relationship. I could learn from that, I thought.

Things got weird when I noticed he’d added a picture to his Tinder profile. We’d been dating about a month. And yes, I was still on the app but I wasn’t actively using it.

Instead of confronting him outright about the photo, I asked if he was seeing other people. He told me he wasn’t, but I could sense myself going on the defensive.

I started to pay attention to how long it took for him to text back, how often he called me gorgeous or beautiful, and how much time he dedicated to me. One day I noticed — via iPhone’s “read receipt” feature — that he’d opened my iMessage but didn’t reply for three hours. I felt frustrated. I waited until the following afternoon to respond.

I started to feel distance swelling between us.

The final straw was when I could see he was active on Instagram before replying to a text conversation he’d started with me over an hour earlier. Why was he putting social media before me?

When he finally texted me asking, “How are you?” I didn’t reply. I didn’t want to give him the opportunity to leave me on “read.”

At first I felt really strong and empowered, like I was taking my power back and protecting my heart. As the days went on, though, he didn’t follow up to see why I’d gone silent.

I wished I’d been mature enough to flat out ask him if he was losing interest in me. Instead, I just felt sad and empty.

Truth is, I hate the power struggle that so often comes with online dating.

I may have ghosted him before he ghosted me, but I didn’t win.

The author writes the blog MindBodySex.com, and you can find her on Instagram @TheAshleighGray

Straight, gay, bisexual, transgender or nonbinary: L.A. Affairs chronicles the search for love in and around Los Angeles — and we want to hear your story. You must allow your name to be published, and the story you tell has to be true. We pay $300 for each essay we publish. Email us at [email protected]. You can find submission guidelines here.

PARIS — 

French fashion designer Emanuel Ungaro, who was known for his use of vibrant color, mixed prints and elegant draping, has died at the age of 86.

Ungaro’s death was confirmed Sunday by the eponymous Paris fashion house he founded in 1965, which said in an Instagram post that he “will remain in our memories as the Master of sensuality, colors and flamboyance.”

The designer died Saturday in Paris, according to French media.

Born in the southern French city of Aix-en-Provence in 1933, Ungaro learned to sew from his father, an Italian tailor.

When he was 23 years old, he moved to Paris. Two years later, he started working as an assistant to Spanish fashion designer Cristóbal Balenciaga. Ungaro then worked for a couple of years for the Courrèges house before creating his own company.

For decades, Ungaro clothed celebrities and actresses, including Jacqueline Kennedy, Gena Rowlands and Catherine Deneuve.

In 1996, he sold his house to the Italian group Ferragamo. He continued to create collections until retiring in 2004.

He is survived by his wife and their daughter.

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CHICAGO  — 

One person has been charged in connection with a shooting early Sunday at a house party that left 13 people wounded, four of them critically, Chicago police said.

The shooting stemmed from a dispute at the party, Chief of Patrol Fred Waller said at a news conference. He said shots were first fired just after 12:30 a.m. The party was being held in honor of someone who was killed in April.

Chicago police announced Sunday evening that Marciano White, 37, was charged with unlawful use of a weapon by a felon. White was arrested a short distance from where the party was being held, authorities said.

The victims, ages 16 to 48, suffered “different and various gunshot wounds to their bodies.”

“It looked like they were just shooting randomly at people as they exited the party,” Waller said.

Waller did not provide details on the person who was being memorialized. Chicago Mayor Lori Lightfoot, who visited victims Sunday, said the party was celebrating the birthday of a person who had been killed.

Waller described three shooting scenes at the residential location in the city’s Englewood neighborhood, a predominantly low-income stretch of the city roughly 10 miles southwest of downtown that has a high crime rate. The shooting started inside, then more shots were fired as people began spilling out of the house. Shots were also fired at a third place nearby, Waller said.

He described the shooting as an “isolated incident.”

The shooting comes as the city has been on the verge of closing out 2019 with a sizable reduction in shootings and homicides for the third straight year. Through roughly mid-December, about 475 people were killed, compared with 549 in 2018, which is a 14% drop. In 2016, the number of homicides was roughly 750, according to Chicago police data.

The declines happened citywide, including in historically high-crime areas. Still, Chicago has more violent crime than New York and Los Angeles. Both cities had about 1,800 shooting victims combined, while Chicago has had about 2,500 this year, according to the Chicago Tribune, which tracks shootings.

Police have credited Chicago’s drop in crime to the use of technology used to predict where shootings might occur, while experts also credit anti-violence programs that offer jobs and gang conflict mediation.

Lightfoot, who met with victims at the University of Chicago Hospital, urged those with information about the shooting to come forward, even if they want to do so anonymously.

“It’s a terrible tragedy and frankly an incredible act of cowardice,” she told reporters. “People in that house know what happened and we’ve urged them to overcome their fears and come forward with information.”

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KABUL, Afghanistan — 

An American service member was killed in combat Monday in Afghanistan, the U.S. military said, without providing further details, while the Taliban claimed they were behind a roadside bombing in northern Kunduz province that killed the U.S. soldier.

The latest fatality brings the number of U.S. deaths in Afghanistan this year to 20. There have also been three noncombat deaths in 2019. More than 2,400 Americans have died in the nearly 18-year conflict.

The Taliban now control or hold sway over practically half of Afghanistan but continue to stage near-daily attacks targeting Afghan and U.S. forces, as well as government officials — even as they hold peace talks with a U.S. envoy tasked with negotiating an end to what has become America’s longest war. Scores of Afghan civilians are also killed in the crossfire or by roadside bombs planted by militants.

Monday’s U.S. military statement did not identify the U.S. soldier or say where in Afghanistan the service member was killed. It said that in accordance with U.S. Department of Defense policy, names of service members killed in action are withheld for 24 hours or until the notification of the family is completed.

Last month, two U.S. service members were killed in Afghanistan when their helicopter crashed in eastern Logar province. The Taliban also claimed responsibility for that crash, saying they had downed the helicopter, causing many fatalities. The U.S. military dismissed the Taliban claim as false.

Shortly after the U.S. military statement on Monday, Taliban spokesman Zabihullah Mujahid tweeted that the U.S. soldier was killed in the Chardara district in northern Kunduz province where U.S. and Afghan forces were carrying out a joint raid. Mujahid said the insurgents had planted a roadside bomb that killed the service member.

The U.S. military did not immediately respond to the Taliban claim.

The Taliban have a strong presence in Kunduz province and are completely in control of several of the province’s districts. The provincial capital, the city of Kunduz, briefly fell to the Taliban in 2015, before the insurgents withdrew in the face of a NATO-backed Afghan offensive. The city is a strategic crossroads with easy access to much of northern Afghanistan as well as the country’s capital, Kabul, about 200 miles away.

The following year, 2016, the Taliban pushed back into the city center, briefly raising their flag before gradually being driven out again. In August they launched another attempt to overrun the city but were repelled.

Washington’s peace envoy Zalmay Khalilzad has been trying to hammer out a peace agreement with the Taliban for over a year. The U.S. wants the deal to include a promise from the Taliban that Afghanistan would not used as a base by any terrorist group.

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Earlier this month, Khalilzad met with Taliban representatives in Qatar, where the insurgents maintain a political office, as the talks between the two sides resumed after a three-month halt by President Trump following a particularly deadly wave of Taliban attacks, including a Kabul suicide bombing that killed an American soldier.

The Qatar meeting focused on getting a Taliban promise to reduce violence, with a permanent cease-fire being the eventual goal.

Khalilzad is trying to lay the groundwork for negotiations between Afghans on both sides of the protracted conflict but the Taliban refuse to talk directly with the Kabul government.

SEOUL — 

A new satellite image of a factory where North Korea makes military equipment used to launch long-range missiles shows the construction of a new structure.

The release of several images from Planet Labs comes amid concern that North Korea could launch a rocket or missile as it seeks concessions in stalled nuclear negotiations with the United States.

North Korea has warned that what “Christmas gift” it gives the U.S. depends on what action Washington takes.

One of the new satellite images taken Thursday shows the March 16 Factory near Pyongyang, where North Korea manufactures trucks used as mobile launchers for its long-range missiles.

Jeffrey Lewis, director of the East Asia nonproliferation program at the Middlebury Institute, tweeted that the construction appeared to be an expansion of the factory.

Nuclear talks between Washington and Pyongyang have been stalled since a February summit between President Trump and Kim Jong Un fell apart.

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Earlier this month, North Korea carried out two major tests at its long-range rocket launch and missile engine testing site in the country’s northwest.

The other images released by Planet Labs show that site before and after the Dec. 7 test.

Here are the stories you shouldn’t miss today:

TOP STORIES

Evangelicals at a Trump Crossroads

President Trump has long touted his support among evangelical Christians. So when Mark Galli, editor of the evangelical magazine Christianity Today, wrote a scathing editorial last week calling for Trump’s removal from office on moral grounds, it got quite a bit of attention.

The editorial not only drew some harsh tweets from the president but also set off a furor among conservatives. And as seen at congregations across Southern California, it appeared to do little to persuade. In some cases, it offered an occasion to solidify support for the 45th president.

“All of us are human, and none of us are without sin,” said one parishioner.

Galli, who grew up in Northern California and has called Trump’s leadership and morality into question in the past, says he doesn’t think he will change minds. But he says he considers it his duty to the say “most truthful and honest thing” he can.

Squaring Off in the Senate

In the aftermath of last week’s impeachment of Trump, new evidence has emerged as the standoff over sending the House’s articles of impeachment to the Senate devolves into a war of words during the holiday break.

Documents obtained Friday by the nonprofit Center for Public Integrity indicate that the White House ordered congressionally mandated Ukraine aid frozen less than two hours after Trump’s July 25 phone conversation with Ukraine’s president.

Still, many questions remain about Trump’s dealings with Ukraine, and a trial in the Senate seems unlikely to shed more light.

A senior White House official and leading Senate Republicans said Democrats won’t succeed in their efforts to force the Senate to summon witnesses in the impeachment trial. Democrats responded by asking why, if Trump were innocent, he would block the testimony of top aides with direct knowledge of his actions.

More Politics

— Trump signed two behemoth spending packages totaling $1.4 trillion on Friday night, preventing another year-end government shutdown with an hour and a half to spare.

— With the Democratic presidential nomination still very much up for grabs, candidates sprinted from the year’s final presidential debate in Los Angeles to Iowa over the weekend, hoping to get a jump on a frenetic month of campaigning ahead of the state’s Feb. 3 caucuses.

— How the 9th Circuit Court of Appeals is being remade under Trump.

The Disappearing Middle at the Box Office

When it comes to Hollywood movie box office, the difference between the haves and have-nots is growing — and the middle is getting squeezed out.

This year, the total haul is expected to reach $11.4 billion in the U.S. and Canada, down 4% from last year’s record levels. Behind that number are a handful of blockbusters (such as “Avengers: Endgame” and this weekend’s “Star Wars: The Rise of Skywalker”) and some historic flops (ahem, “Cats”). Most worrisome to film industry types is that mid-level films, which used to keep theaters humming year-round, are falling by the wayside.

Masa Nostalgia

Tamale season is here. Some people make their own; others stand in long lines to buy the perfect batch. Then there are those who head to the supermarket freezer case for a taste of their youth: the XLNT tamale. At 125 years old, XLNT is the oldest continuously operating Mexican food brand in the United States, and one of the oldest companies in Southern California. Though its unassuming tamales may seem passé, they are seeing an upswing in sales driven by California expats.

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OUR MUST-READS FROM THE WEEKEND

— More than 100 California boats were exempted from strict U.S. Coast Guard rules adopted more than two decades ago to improve passenger safety during emergencies, according to a Times data analysis. One of those was the Conception, on which 34 people died in a Labor Day fire.

— Vandalism at Nessah Synagogue in Beverly Hills, one of the country’s most prominent Iranian synagogues, has stunned congregants who said they never thought the anti-Semitic graffiti and intolerance they saw happening at other temples and schools would reach their doorstep.

— How Salt Lake City is using police and shelters to fight homelessness.

— Grades versus SAT scores: Which are a better predictor of college success?

— “I ghosted him before he could ghost me. Why is dating such a power struggle?”

FROM THE ARCHIVES

With the holidays upon us, here’s a reminder: Don’t drink and drive. It was just as true on this date in 1958, when the traffic checkpoint in East Los Angeles pictured below took place, as it is now.

CALIFORNIA

— Estimates show population growth in the state is at its slowest since 1900, as residents leave and the pace of immigration decelerates. Also a factor: lower birth rates.

— A state audit says emergency officials are overlooking the most vulnerable people, including those with disabilities, when they make preparations for wildfires, floods and other disasters.

— New phone transcripts provide a detailed look at how William “Rick” Singer, the admitted mastermind of the college admissions scandal, conspired with others.

— With storms rolling in this week, Southern California is in for a rainy Christmas.

HOLLYWOOD AND THE ARTS

— A major scene in Netflix’s “The Two Popes” was set in the Sistine Chapel, but almost no filming is allowed there. What to do? The production built a replica of the interior that was even a couple of inches bigger than the original.

— For the first time in some 35 years, Eddie Murphy returned to host “Saturday Night Live” and performed some of the recurring characters from his glory days.

— “Cats” may be a wreck as a move and a joke as a musical, but theater critic Charles McNulty explains why we will always have it.

— The mysterious street artist known as Banksy has displayed a politically charged Nativity scene in Bethlehem, the town revered as Jesus’ birthplace, just in time for the busy Christmas season.

NATION-WORLD

— A court in Saudi Arabia on Monday sentenced five people to death for the killing of journalist Jamal Khashoggi.

— Border Patrol agents say human smugglers are exploiting the Tijuana River Valley culvert system meant to drain raw sewage at the U.S.-Mexico border, putting agents, emergency responders and migrants at risk for drowning and exposure to highly toxic substances.

— Police say a shooting at a house party in Chicago held in honor of someone who was killed in April left 13 people wounded, four of them critically.

— The death toll from a volcanic eruption in New Zealand this month has risen to 19 after authorities said another person has died at an Auckland hospital.

— It took a blaze that nearly destroyed Notre Dame de Paris to expose a gap in global safety regulations for lead.

BUSINESS

— Boeing has landed its Starliner crew capsule in the New Mexico desert after an aborted flight to the International Space Station that threatened to derail the company’s effort to launch astronauts for NASA next year.

— How Sacramento shifted billions of dollars in future wildfire costs away from utilities and to consumers.

SPORTS

— With LeBron James injured, the Lakers fell to the Denver Nuggets for their third consecutive loss.

— As the Rams’ season nears an end, veteran leader Eric Weddle is getting emotional thinking of retirement.

OPINION

— The Times’ editorial board says “ghost guns” need to be brought out of the shadows.

— Frank Shyong: “What I learned in my first year as an L.A. Times columnist.”

— Cities in the U.S. are overrun with feral cats. Magical thinking isn’t the solution.

WHAT OUR EDITORS ARE READING

— Former Trump national security advisor John Bolton has suggested the Trump administration is bluffing about stopping North Korea’s nuclear ambitions. (Axios)

— Strip mining the ocean floor is about to begin in earnest, and the consequences are hard to even imagine. (The Atlantic)

— What does the end of San Francisco’s long-running musical revue “Beach Blanket Babylon” tell us about the times we live in? (San Francisco Chronicle)

ONLY IN L.A.

If you want to be transported to the Georgian sunset against which Scarlett O’Hara vowed never to be hungry again, the island beaches of “South Pacific,” the view of the Danube from the Von Trapp family’s terrace in “The Sound of Music” or Mt. Rushmore in “North by Northwest,” look no further than an unassuming warehouse in Valencia. That’s where dozens of painted backdrops used in movies are kept as part of a project to save irreplaceable pieces of Hollywood history from the trash heap.

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Neil McGowan’s play “Disposable Necessities,” having its premiere at Rogue Machine in Venice, is part sci-fi yarn, part comic farce and part timely social commentary. It’s hard to pin down its style, but one thing is certain: McGowan’s rich imagination challenges our expectations at every twist of its deliciously disturbing plot.

The action is set in the not-so-distant future, when the privileged of society become essentially immortal, able to download their identities into new “modules” — bodies of the recently deceased. Those enormously expensive bodies aren’t available to the have-nots, who must content themselves with providing carcasses for the affluent. Gender fluidity has taken on a whole new meaning in this brave new order, with people swapping sexes according to what is available. Youth and beauty, as always, drive the marketplace.

Once celebrated author Daniel (Darrett Sanders) is now a has-been supported by his wife, Al, nee Alice (Billy Flynn), who opted for a male module to advance her stalled career. (It worked.) Daniel got a new module way back when, but he’s clearly showing his age, so Al is nagging him to re-up and get a shiny new self. Their son, Chadwick (Jefferson Reid), went African American this time around — a cultural appropriation made all the more hilarious by Chadwick’s clueless attempts to adapt.

When Daniel’s old friend Phillip (Claire Blackwelder) arrives in the body of a nubile young woman, the sexual politics among the characters grow ever more complex and comical. Despite Al’s hectoring, however, Daniel is resistant to change, as is his estranged daughter Dee (Ann Noble), who has a particularly pressing reason for wanting to get out of her old body, pronto.

David Mauer’s scenic design has the right touch of the high-tech without veering into parody, as do Christine Cover Ferro’s shrewdly updated costumes. Matt Richter’s lighting, Christopher Moscatiello’s sound and Michelle Hanzelova’s projections all lend to the subtly futuristic ambience.

Director Guillermo Cienfuegos and a lively cast tear into their material with brio. As women play men, and vice versa, the actors could be accused of occasionally slipping into caricature, but what matter? They serve the piece’s comic rhythms and nail down the laughs — or, conversely, the pathos. Just don’t lay bets on where the story ends up. You’ll lose.

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Ferrari has rewarded Charles Leclerc’s efforts during his maiden season with the Scuderia by offering the Monegasque a new five-year deal.

Leclerc’s seat at the House of Maranello should therefore be secure until at least the end of the 2024 season, leaving F1 with a clear indication of Ferrari’s faith in its young charger. He is the team’s future and therefore perhaps the Scuderia’s de facto number 1 driver.

And since good news never comes alone, Italy’s Corriere dello Sport is reporting that Leclerc’s annual retainer will rise to €9 million euros from next season!

In only his second season of F1, Leclerc secured two victories with the Scuderia, winning in Belgium and clinching an emotional triumph in Ferrari’s home race at Monza.

Ocon ‘not surprised’ by Leclerc’s success in F1

But the 22-year-old also left his scorching marks on Saturdays, snatching seven pole positions over the course of the season, the most for any driver in 2019.

“I am very happy to be staying on with Scuderia Ferrari,” said an ecstatic Leclerc.

“This past season, driving for the most illustrious team in Formula 1 has been a dream year for me.

“I cannot wait to enjoy an even deeper relationship with the team after what has been an intense and exciting 2019.

“I’m keen to see what the future holds and I can’t wait to get going again next season.”

Team boss Mattia Binotto added: “With each passing race this year, our wish to extend our contract with Charles became ever more self-evident and the decision means he will now be with us for the next five seasons.

“It demonstrates that Charles and the Scuderia have a firm future together.

“Charles has been part of our family since 2016 and we are more than proud of the results we are achieving with our Academy.

“We are therefore very pleased to be able to announce that he will be with us for many years to come and I’m sure that together, we will write many new pages in the history of the Prancing Horse.”

Gallery: The beautiful wives and girlfriends of F1 drivers

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