Charles Leclerc

About

Charles Leclerc is a Monegasque Formula One racing driver currently racing for Scuderia Ferrari. He’s won the GP3 series in 2016 and the FIA Formula 2 Championship in 2017.

Biography

Born on 16 October 1997, Charles Leclerc is the son of Herve Leclerc and Mother Pascale. He is the second of the three siblings with his younger sibling Arthur Leclerc also part of the Ferrari Driver Academy. Leclerc was also very close to Jules Bianchi, former Formula One driver, who guided him through his formative years.

Racing Career

Junior Categories

Karting

Leclerc began his karting career in 2005 and would stick to karting until 2013 where he would finish second in the CIK-FIA World KZ Championship, behind current Red Bull Formula One driver Max Verstappen.

Formula 3 European Championship

In 2015, Leclerc competed in the European F3 championships where he would win the opening round of the championship but ultimately drop back to 4th in the championship after a collision with Lance Stroll.

GP3 Series

In 2016, he would sign with ART Grand Prix and dominate the series by winning 3 races en route to the championship.

Formula 2 Championship

In 2017, Leclerc got promoted to F2 and it was this year that the world took notice of the youngster, Not only did he dominate the series but also became the youngest Formula 2 champion. He also became the first driver since Nico Hulkenberg to win the title in his rookie season.

Formula One

Sauber(2018)

Leclerc impressed in his very first season in Formula One. He secured his first points at Azerbaijan by finishing 6th in the race. More points would follow as Leclerc would dominate his teammate throughout the season and finish the races in positions it didn’t deserve. He would outqualify his teammate Marcus Ericsson 17 times out of the 21 races he raced in and would finish the season in the 13th with 39 points in the kitty. Soon after Ferrari came calling as the Monegasque driver was selected to drive for the Italian team.

Ferrari(2019-Present)

Fulfilling his childhood dream, Charles Leclerc would race for Ferrari in the 2019 season alongside Sebastian Vettel. In a season defined as the change of guard at Ferrari, Leclerc was able to match and beat Sebastian Vettel in the very first season at Ferrari. He would finish his first season at Ferrari with 10 podiums, 2 wins, and 7 pole positions. Leclerc would finish the season 4th in the championship and outscore his teammate by 24 points.

The 2020 season saw Ferrari replace Sebastian Vettel opting not to extend Sebastian Vettel’s contract beyond the season and replace him with Carlos Sainz in the 2021 season. On track Ferrari’s competitiveness nosedived as new engine regulations saw them lose as much as 50 bhp to its competitors. From consistently challenging for Wins and Podiums, Leclerc had to reset the expectations for the 2020 season as many midfield teams were able to leapfrog Ferrari in terms of competitiveness. The season proved to be a disappointment in many ways is Leclerc had to fight hard in the midfield to secure decent results. Leclerc would finish the 2020 season 8th in the standings with just two podiums to his name. For the 2021 season, Leclerc would have Carlos Sainz Jr. as his teammate at Ferrari.

The 2021 F1 season saw Ferrari take another step in terms of improvement in competitiveness. Charles Leclerc had a much better car under him compared to the underpowered machinery of 2020. The driver showed impressive one lap pace whenever he got the chance. Arguably some of the standout performances for Charles were the pole position he secured at Monaco and Baku in a Ferrari that was not even a frontrunner. The 2021 F1 season however was a bit incident prone for the Ferrari driver and he did end up getting outscored by teammate Carlos Sainz. He ended the season 7th in the championship behind his teammate Carlos Sainz, the first time in his career he was outscored by a teammate.

The 2022 F1 season started with a bang for Charles Leclerc as he got his hands on a car with which he could battle for the title. The driver rose to the challenge in a very impressive manner as well. He won the first race of the season after a race long battle with Max Verstappen in Bahrain. What made the start of the season even more impressive was him winning two of the first 3 races of the season and having more than a 40 point advantage on championship rival Max Verstappen after just 3 races. Leclerc's season unravelled from that point onwards as Ferrari's lack of reliability and strategic acumen hurt the title campaign. A Mid-season rule change completely put Ferrari out of contention as Red Bull took charge. By the end of the season, Leclerc was marginally able to salvage a P2 finish in the championship to cap off a disappointing season.

The 2023 F1 season has been worse in that respect as Ferrari seems to have taken another step back in terms of competitiveness. Leclerc has put together a few competitive weekends where he has snatched pole position but the Ferrari has been no match for Red Bull. The driver's future looks uncertain as he tries to ascertain what would be the next step for his career.

Records:

1. Youngest FIA Formula 2 Champion
2. Youngest Polesitter for Ferrari
3. Youngest driver to win the pole position trophy in 2019

Family

Father: Herve Leclerc

Mother: Pascale

Brother: Arthur Leclerc