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Considered by many as the fastest single-lap driver in Formula 1, Charles Leclerc is a product of the Ferrari Driver Academy.
After finishing second in the 2014 Formula Renault 2.0 series, and Macau Grand Prix the following year, he won the 2016 GP3 Series and then the Formula 2 Championship the following year.
He joined Ferrari in 2019 after a single season with Sauber, though having spent time testing with Haas and Sauber in 2016 and 2017.
His debut season in F1 was promising and saw him promoted in place of Kimi Raikkonen to partner four-time world champion Sebastian Vettel at the Scuderia.
Leclerc’s first win came at the Belgian Grand Prix in 2019, backing it up with his second victory at the very next race, the Italian Grand Prix.
Ferrari slipped down the pecking order for 2020 and a second in Austria was the best he could manage in the 17-race campaign. He was winless the following year too.
However, the Pracing Horse proved fast out of the gates when new regulations were introduced for 2022 and he won two of the opening three races, and finished second in the other.
That left Leclerc atop the championship standings in the opening rounds, though a combination of reliability issues and driver error saw that advantage eroded.
The key moment came at the French Grand Prix, when he crashed out. By then, Max Verstappen and Red Bull Racing had found its feet and ran away with the championship, Leclerc holding on for second.
With Red Bull Racing dominant in 2023, Leclerc ended the year winless while team-mate Carlos Sainz claimed the team’s only win of the year.
Prodigiously talented and arguably the best single lap driver on the Formula 1 grid, Leclerc has proved unable to convert pole positions into race wins.
Yet he remains Ferrari’s great hope for future success as the Italian squad looks to rebuild after falling behind following its early-2022 pace.
