We look back for a moment on Scuderia Ferrari Monegasque driver Charles Leclerc’s already impressive career in motorsport, as he turns 23 today.
The beginning of a rivalry
Charles Leclerc starts karting in 2005 and already impresses with the win in the regional karting championship. He wins the CAPA championship in 2005, 2006 and 2007 and also takes the title in the French Cadet Championship in 2009. The man then leaves Monaco for karting in the rest of Europe.
In the KF3 class, the highest karting class in Europe for children aged 11 to 15, Leclerc wins immediately in 2011 and joins the management of Nicolas Todt. In 2012, Leclerc makes the step to KZ2 for ART, where he wins the WSK Euro Series title and takes second place in the overall championship. In his final year, he again takes second place in the highest class of the karting championship. Number one of that year is his big rival: Max Verstappen.
will make the switch to formula cars in 2014 and he will make an immediate impression there as well. As a seventeen-year-old he comes second in the Formula 2.0 Renault 2.0 Alps championship and scores two victories. The following year he finishes fourth in the Formula 3 championship for the Dutch Van Amersfoort team, despite 4 victories.
The big breakthrough
Its real breakthrough will only come in 2016. When great rival Verstappen has already won his first victory for Red Bull Racing, it is Charles who impresses in the GP3 and dominates the series for Prema. As a new talent of the Ferrari youth training course, he scores three victories, is on pole four times and on the podium a total of eight times.
In 2017 the step to Formula 2 follows and where most rookies need a year to get in, Leclerc takes another step on top. He wins no less than seven races, is on pole eight times and now takes a podium ten times. The gap to number two in the general classification finally amounts to 72 points and the Monegask impresses especially with a phenomenal performance in Azerbaijan after the death of his father.
Charles Leclerc steams through
After such a year, it is not surprising that Leclerc will be presented as the new Alfa Romeo driver in 2018. Sauber has now been completely renamed Alfa Romeo and as Ferrari-junior Leclerc will have a head start. Charles immediately shows that the choice for him is justified. He scores 39 points, where his teammate Marcus Ericsson is stuck at 9, but his consistency and pure speed impress.
Also on the Ferrari top man Sergio Marchionne. He is said to have forced Ferrari to bring the young Monegask to Maranello. This would make Leclerc the second youngest Ferrari driver in history, but Marchionne himself will not experience it. He will die before the announcement.
The Ferrari dream
However, his wishes are reportedly being complied with. Maurizio Arrivabene has to leave and Leclerc gets a new team boss with Mattia Binotto. Former Ferrari star Sebastian Vettel is pushed further and further into the background. Not only next to him, but also on the track, Leclerc is too fast for him.
In 2019 and 2020 the four-time world champion will have no answer to the fast Monegask. Leclerc is faster in the qualifications, but also in the races. In 2021 Ferrari will therefore choose a different path. Leclerc is supported even further and Vettel has to leave. Ferrari will never pronounce it that way, but today’s birthday boy has already been bombed halfway through 2019 to become the ultimate front runner for Ferrari in the years to come.
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