Charles Leclerc

Biography of F1 driver Charles Leclerc

Despite arriving in F1 with big expectations, Charles Leclerc hasn't had a problem handling the pressure and becoming one of the brightest young stars in the sport.

After a stellar climb up the ranks that saw him claim GP3 and Formula 1 titles, the Monegasque driver had a memorable maiden campaign with Sauber back in 2018, often getting more out of the car than should have been possible.

It's no surprise it took just a season for Ferrari to bring him to the Scuderia, where Leclerc established himself as one of the can't miss drivers on the grid thanks to impressive victories in Belgium and Ferrari's home race of Monza. Locked into a long-term deal as he looks to turn around Ferrari's fortunes, here is everything you need to know about the life of Charles Leclerc.

Leclerc's early career

The second oldest alongside two other siblings, Leclerc was born to father Herve and mother Pascale. Charles began karting in 2005, winning several French championships and even battling it out with Red Bull's Max Verstappen in 2013. The Dutchman took the CIK-FIA World KZ Championship, with Leclerc slotting in just behind in second.

Leclerc made the jump to single-seaters in 2014, finishing second behind Nyck de Vries in the Formula Renault 2.0 Alps. A move to the Formula 3 European Championship came in 2015 and was followed by a GP3 Series title in 2016, finishing ahead of Alexander Albon.

Leclerc continued to impress from there, making the step up to the Formula 2 Championship where he drove for Prema Racing. Leclerc ended the season with seven wins, eight poles and 10 podiums from 22 races to take the title by 72 points over Artem Markelov.

The result made Leclerc the youngest ever champion of the main support series for F1 at 19 years and 356 days old, along with the first rookie to do so since Nico Hulkenberg back in 2009.

F1 career begins with Sauber

Leclerc joined the Ferrari Driver Academy in 2016, acting as the Haas and Ferrari development driver as well. He took part in the first practice session for the British and German Grand Prix for the American team.

In 2017 he took part in mid-season testing at the Hungaroring following the Hungarian Grand Prix for Ferrari, finishing fastest on the first day of the test after completing 98 laps.

The next step saw Leclerc prompted to a full-time seat in 2018, joining Sauber alongside Marcus Ericsson. Leclerc became the first Monegasque F1 driver since Olivier Beretta in 1994. He scored his first points at the Azerbaijan Grand Prix thanks to a sixth place finish, becoming the second driver from Monaco to score points after Louis Chiron.

Unfortunately things didn't go well for Leclerc at his home race as he suffered a brake failure in the closing laps, colliding into the back of Brendon Hartley and forcing both cars to retire. Three consecutive finishes in the points followed before a run of five races outside the top 10, which included three retirements.

Leclerc ended the season with three consecutive seventh place finishes to bring his final points tally to 39 points, beaten teammate Ericsson by 30 points. He also out qualified the Swede 17-4.

Dream move to Ferrari

Leclerc's lone season with Sauber was enough to convince Ferrari to make a move as the Scuderia brought him in to replace Kimi Raikkonen, who went the other way and filled the seat at the team now down as Alfa Romeo. He made his first appearance in a Ferrari car in November 2018 during the end of the season test.

As for on the track, Leclerc started and finished his first race for Ferrari in fifth, but he quickly made a name for himself by claiming pole position at the following race in Bahrain. He set a new lap record in the process and became the youngest Ferrari pole-sitter. Although Leclerc led most of the race, engine problems late in the race resulted in him being overtaken by Lewis Hamilton and Valtteri Bottas. A late safety car helped him keep hold of third and his first F1 podium.

Two more podiums came in Canada and France, while Leclerc added a second career pole in Austria. Just like in Bahrain, Leclerc led for most of the race but wasn't able to take the chequered flag, with Max Verstappen getting past him late in the race. The overtake saw the two cars collide, and while stewards investigated the matter after the race, they deemed it a racing incident.

Another pole in Belgium alongside teammate Sebastian Vettel gave Ferrari their second front-row lockout of the season. Despite pressure from Hamilton, Leclerc held him off to claim his first career victory, becoming the youngster Ferrari race winner. The Monegasque driver dedicated the win to friend Anthoine Hubert, who was killed during a Formula 2 feature race on Saturday.

Leclerc followed that up with another pole in Italy and once again fending off the Mercedes to take the chequered flag, becoming the first Ferrari driver to win at Monza since Fernando Alonso in 2010. Another pole followed in Singapore, however he had to settle for second in the race after being undercut by Vettel.

A seventh pole came at the Mexico GP, though there was some controversy in Brazil as Leclerc and Vettel collided ending both their races. In the end Leclerc finished fourth in the championship, ahead of Vettel, with 10 podiums, two wins, four fastest laps and seven pole positions.

A difficult season for Ferrari

Although Leclerc ended the season-opening Austrian Grand Prix in second, it was a difficult season for him and Ferrari.

The Monegasque driver started the Styrian Grand Prix down in 14th after a penalty for impeding Daniil Kvyat and things didn't improve all the much in the race. He collided with Vettel on the first lap, ending both their races.

The only other real bright spot came at the British Grand Prix, where Leclerc turned fourth on the grid into a third place finish for his 12th career podium finish. A crash at the Parabolica on Lap 24 ended his Italian Grand Prix while running in fourth, though Leclerc did manage to put together a run of three consecutive top-5 finishes in Portugal, Emilia Romagna and Turkey.

In the end Leclerc finished the championship in eighth spot with 98 points, with teammate Vettel settling for 13th position on 33 points. As a result Ferrari opted for a change, bringing in Carlos Sainz from McLaren to replace the departing Vettel.