Leclerc's manager: 'Bianchi told me to watch Charles'

Charles Leclerc is one of the biggest talents in Formula 1 right now. Last season, he finished second in the world championship. However, his manager, Nicolas Todt, says that when he saw Leclerc driving in karting, he did not know he would become such a good driver.

Whereas the Monegasque finished second last year, this season is running far less smoothly. Especially on race pace, the Ferrari falls short of Red Bull. Despite that, Leclerc does have two pole positions to his name this season, but he has not won a race from those positions.

'Didn't know Leclerc would get this good'

In the Track Limits podcast, his manager explains how his partnership with Leclerc came about: "It would be a lie to say when I first saw him, and I knew that he would be the one. All that started from my personal relationship with Jules. For information, Jules' best friend was Charles' [Leclerc] older brother Lorenzo. They were very close, and very early, Jules became the racing godfather of Charles."

"While I was helping Jules, I think he was in World Series or GP2 at the time. He told me I have the younger brother of Lorenzo racing go-karts. He's very good. He doesn't have the budget to go higher than what he is doing in karting. I think that you should meet him and help him because he's worth watching. My first reaction was to say yes, I'd love to meet him out of friendship for you, Jules. I will do it because you are my friend. The first time I met him was with his dad. I knew he was a good karting driver, but didn't know he would become vice world champion in 2022 and have everything it takes to become world champion," Todt recalled.