Charles Leclerc recalls his first visit to a race track as a result of a mischief

Charles Leclerc recalls his first visit to a race track as a result of a mischief. When the love story between Charles Leclerc and motorsports began.

“I was four years old, I told my father that I didn’t feel very well and didn’t want to go to school. Of course, I was pretending like all children do.” This is how the love story between Charles Leclerc and motorsports began, in a genuine and childlike manner. A love at first sight, one might say in movies when just a glance makes your heart beat a little faster. In this case, there was no exchange of glances, but a few laps at Philippe Bianchi’s go-kart track were enough.

Despite that little mischief, Hervè Leclerc took his son where an acquaintance of his worked, Bianchi precisely, to talk about their common passion. What was not known was that this would be the beginning of a career that, on paper, has done “little” but demonstrates a lot of potential. “My father, however, for some reason, indulged me and took me to the go-kart track of his best friend, Philippe Bianchi. Seeing other children racing on the track, I wanted to try it too. For my first car, I chose the color red. And I think I fell in love with this sport after only three laps,” the Monegasque said in a recent interview for the magazine L’Officiel.

The color of Charles Leclerc’s first car may have been a great coincidence, or perhaps a sign. After all, aren’t the French speakers precisely the ones to define these interconnected elements as “un fil rouge” (a red thread)? “I like to remember the first time I saw a Grand Prix. I was still a child; I had a friend whose apartment had a balcony overlooking the Monte Carlo circuit. Of course, I was already cheering for the red cars, although I didn’t yet know they were Ferraris. It was simply my favorite color.” – the Ferrari driver continued.

What remains is that, twenty-two years later, he has dedicated his life to the Scuderia with a contract that, according to rumors, will last until 2028, with many lows but dizzying highs that make the dark moments forgettable, in the hope that the Maranello team will soon be able to give Charles a car capable of challenging for the Formula 1 title.