Charles Leclerc in 2023
Leclerc is currently competing in his sixth season in Formula 1. He is looking to become Ferrari’s first man to win a title with the Italian team since Kimi Raikkonen did in 2007. Leclerc is focused on improving Ferrari and wants to become a title challenger again after he got a taste of it in 2022. Leclerc’s current teammate is Carlos Sainz, who has been a match for Leclerc.
Leclerc’s current contract at Ferrari expires at the end of 2024. His contract is expected to be renewed, as the Italian team is pushing hard to get his signature after rumours around the paddock say that other teams are interested in signing him.
Leclerc’s family has a really close tie to motorsports. His late dad, Hervé Leclerc, competed in F3, and his brother, Arthur, is currently competing in Formula 2.
Charles Leclerc biography
After Leclerc finished fourth in the F3 European Championship and second at the famous Macau Grand Prix in 2015, he was offered a place at Ferrari’s Driver Academy and a GP3 seat at ART Grand Prix. In 2016, while being a test for Haas, Leclerc won the GP3 championship ahead of Alexander Albon, winning three feature races. He was tipped to become a Haas driver for the 2017 season, but it was decided that Leclerc should progress to Formula 2 instead.
In F2, Leclerc once again won the championship in his first season in the competition. In the 2017 Formula 2 season, he was racing for Prema Racing alongside Antonio Fuoco and won the championship commandingly. Leclerc also won five feature races and became the youngest driver to win the series. Thanks to his triumph, Sauber signed him for the 2018 season after being their test driver in 2017.
A year at Alfa Romeo and joining Ferrari
For the 2018 season, Sauber started a collaboration with Alfa Romeo. Due to Ferrari’s connections to the team and engine supply, Charles Leclerc was signed to replace Pascal Wehrlein. Leclerc confidently outscored his teammate Marcus Ericsson and finished in the points 10 ten times. His best finish was a P6 in Azerbaijan.
Leclerc’s promising first season promoted him to Ferrari for the 2019 season, replacing former world champion Kimi Raikkonen. It was a choice proved to be right by the team. Leclerc quickly earned his first pole position at the second race of the year in Bahrain, but because of a mechanical failure, he only finished third. Leclerc later won back-to-back races in Belgium and Italy and outscored his teammate, the four-time World Champion, Sebastian Vettel.
However, 2020 was a different year. Leclerc did start the year by finishing second in Austria and could step on the podium at Silverstone, but he failed to finish in the Top 3 once again. Leclerc did outscore Vettel once more but only finished in P8 in the Drivers’ Championship.
The goal for 2021 was to get more podiums, but it was not meant to be, as Leclerc had several breakdowns and bad luck. Partly because of this, he only finished on the podium once at Silverstone, while he saw his new teammate Carlos Sainz finish ahead of him in the championship with four podiums to his name. This was the first team Leclerc scored fewer points than his teammate.
Challenging for the title
After the regulation changes in 2022, it seemed like Leclerc could be one of the challengers for the title. Leclerc won twice during the first three races, but after many mistakes on his behalf and Ferrari’s strategy department, he was out of contention by the second half of the year. This happened because of events like his crash in France or his engine failure at Baku. After his early success, he only won one more race in Austria. Eventually, he finished second behind Max Verstappen.
Charles Leclerc popularity
Leclerc is especially popular among the Tifosi, who support Scuderia Ferrari. He is also one of the most popular drivers on the grid among neutral fans, thanks to his pace, personality, and potential to finally break Ferrari’s long wait for another title.
What is Charles Leclerc's greatest strength as an F1 driver?
Leclerc's biggest strength is his speed during qualifying, as he often overachieves even with cars that do not seem to have the necessary strength to start from pole position. It has also been documented that the Monegasque driver thinks he has had to improve his mental strength, but in 2022, there was too much pressure on his shoulders. To become a champion in the future, he has to finish the work he has started to be mentally sharp all the time.
