

#Charles leclerc f1 driver
Leclerc started the season where Raikkonen left off as No.2 driver to Vettel. That form was enough to earn Ferrari's trust, and they made an uncharacteristic decision to trust youth, promoting Leclerc to race alongside Vettel for 2019, while Raikkonen would head the other way taking Leclerc's seat at the team now known as Alfa Romeo. Leclerc was comfortably the stand-out performer at Alfa Romeo Sauber against Ericsson, claiming 39 points to finish P13 in the Drivers' Championship. Leclerc was the first Monegasque driver to race in F1 since Olivier Beretta in 1994, and P6 at the Azerbaijan Grand Prix would make him only the second points scorer in F1 to hail from the country. It wasn't too surprising, then, when he was snapped up by Alfa Romeo Sauber, a team who had links with Ferrari, to race alongside Marcus Ericsson. CareerĪs a member of the Ferrari Driver Academy, Leclerc's stock was already high as he plotted a route into F1, but when he claimed the 2018 F2 Championship, just a year after doing the same in GP3, he became one of the hottest properties outside of F1. In the end he would settle on 16, since one and six add up to the value of seven.Īway from the track, Leclerc is a keen gamer and he took part in many esports tournaments during the early part of the coronavirus pandemic.

Interestingly Leclerc's favourite number is seven - which had been taken by Raikkonen, while his second choice, the number 10, is used by his good friend Pierre Gasly. Bianchi, like Leclerc, also came into F1 as part of the Ferrari Driver Academy. Leclerc's godfather is Jules Bianchi, who tragically lost his life to injuries he sustained at the 2014 Japanese Grand Prix. It was still a vast improvement on his previous seasons with the driver hoping to mount a sustained title challenge in 2023. Leclerc's season got off to a flying start with two wins in three races but, only able to add two more in the remaining 19 races, he had to settle for runner-up in the championship. With just one podium to his name, Leclerc finished 5.5 points behind his new team-mate Carlos Sainz.īut with 2022 and its all-new regulations came renewed hope for Ferrari and their drivers. The following season again saw Ferrari go winless as they tried to recover from their secret engine agreement. He dropped to eighth in the Drivers' Championship, though finished way ahead of team-mate Vettel, emphasising his driving ability despite operating a below-par car.

His seven pole positions in 2019 also made him the youngest and first non-Mercedes winner of F1's Pole Trophy.Ģ020 was a much more frustrating season for Ferrari with their engine severely lacking power, but Leclerc still put in strong performances including two podium finishes inside the opening four races. He instantly took the fight to Vettel and finished the 2019 season with more wins, poles and points than the four-time World Champion. Leclerc was initially brought in by Ferrari as a No.2 driver but soon shook off that tag.

Sauber would be his first destination, making his debut at the 2018 Australian Grand Prix.Ī strong rookie year earned him a swift promotion to Ferrari alongside Sebastian Vettel, replacing veteran Finnish driver Kimi Raikkonen. Leclerc began his F1 career in 2018 - a hot prospect who had won the GP3 and F2 titles back-to-back. Charles Leclerc is a Monegasque Formula 1 driver who was born in Monte Carlo, Monaco on 16 October 1997.
