Current Charles Leclerc

2018 sees the much talked about Charles Leclerc make his debut in F1 in the Sauber. Its fair to say there is a good bit of excitement around that. He was born in October 1997 (no really) in Monaco and does race under the Monegasque flag. He was a childhood friend of the late Jules Bianchi. His father Herve Leclerc was also a racing driver, taking part in Formula 3 but unfortunately passed away last year at 54. I'm sure both these connections will make his F1 debut a bit bittersweet as they both should be there.

I first saw Leclerc racing in European F3 and instantly made a joke about Napoleon's brother-in-law and General of the same name. As soon as I made the joke I realised not many people know who that is and therefore the joke is not funny. However because I don't know when to quit I sent a tweet to Will Buxton saying for this reason we should nickname him 'The General'. This tweet was liked by Charles Leclerc himself and therefore not only does that mean it is now his official nickname but also, in true Ted Kravitz style, makes him a close personal friend of mine. To be honest I'm a bit surprised I'm not being flown out to Australia as a VIP.

Leclerc was good to watch in F3 and had an instant unfriendly rivalry with George Russell. When he moved to GP3 I thought he'd be a contender but not win first time out. He proved me wrong and took the title against stiff opposition in Alexander Albon. When he moved into F2 I thought he would probably mix it up with the front runners but wouldn't be in contention in his first year. He proved me wrong and completely wiped the floor with everyone becoming the first person to win both GP3 and F2. So now he comes to F1 you can see why I'm very reluctant to make predictions. Logic says that in a Sauber he should be in the bottom half of the results most of the time but pull off the odd great drive. Logic doesn't always work though and it will be really interesting to see how he does. There is no doubt he has the talent and the skill but there is a lot of expectation on him and he is up against a team mate who no one rates but isn't actual as bad as people think he is. You only have to look at the match up between Ericsson and Wherlein in Quali last year to see that Marcus is no slouch when he is on it. Ericsson is seen as a pay driver (so he should be his backers basically own the team) but lets not forget in his junior formula days he was seen as a big talent.

Leclerc's main problem in the long term in F1 is the big glass ceiling he is about to hit. He is young, trendy and talented right now but there are no top seats available. If one does not become available in the next year or so then the buzz around him wears off and the next bright young thing will steel in and get that seat when it comes around. You only have to talk to Nico Hulkenberg if you want to know more. As he is backed by Ferrari many see him as a made replacement for Kimi but, if he is as good as we think, I can't for the life of me see Vettel approving him coming to the team. Maybe thats his tactic - try and appear mediocre at Sauber so Vettel will have him as number 2 and then turn it on big time.

I'm really excited to see how he does and I really hope that Sauber is more on the pace so he can mix it up some.
 
so delighted for him ive been 1 of biggest supporters since I saw his awesome drive in opening F2 round in Bahrain when he pitted for tyres in sprint race & went for 14th to 1st in 9 laps. as i say Leclerc is brilliant driver, he will do very well & without heaping pressure on the guy if Ferrari deliver a capable car next season. he can defientely win a race next year wouldn't surprise if we had 2007 where the young pretender challenges for the world title
 
Those words may come back and bight you in the bum GL. I wasn't expecting Seb to struggle against Danny Ric at RBR given that it was effectively "his" team and how Seb won the mind games battle against Webber and yet struggle he did.
 
Vettel hasn’t been calling the shots at Ferrari anyway. Marchionne supposedly closed the deal with Leclerc at the end of May because he was fed up with Raikkonens performances.
If it hadn’t been for Stefano Domenicali I'm sure that Massa wouldn’t have lasted more than two seasons next to Alonso either. At that time there also weren’t many other options available who were regarded as being better than Massa.
I don’t think Vettel worries about his team mates and a season like 2014 has not reoccurred yet.
 
Indeed it hasn't.

Vettel in today's press conference:
"Kimi has been my best team-mate, no question."

Mmm-hm. With the possible exception of Bourdais, he's patently been the worst; but the worst is the best for Seb. I'm looking forward to next season a lot more than I thought I would.
 
Fernando Alonso once described Felippe Massa as the best team mate be ever had and Lewis said the same thing about Kovalinen.

Guess you can't beat a good number 2 ;)
 
I feel like Leclerc needs at least one big result before the end of the season. I remember when Perez got signed by McLaren he binned it in nearly every race for the rest of the season and really started on the back foot.

Probably say the same for Gasly too.
 
Well he got 9th today that was good considering he had not scored in 5 races and pretty much around the time when suggestions he might race for Ferrari started
 
Was a great weekend for Leclerc,was tough on him not to win the race.Also the way that he carried himself with what happened showed a sign of maturity that Max Verstappen should take note of.
 
Has anyone noticed the high praise Verstappen got for everything he did in the commentary has lessened a bit in last two races?

Leclerc's loss of the win after such a good drive reminded me very much of Juan Pablo Montoya in Brazil all those years ago.
 
Leclerc is brilliant driver, he will do very well & without heaping pressure on the guy if Ferrari deliver a capable car next season. he can defientely win a race next year wouldn't surprise if we had 2007 where the young pretender challenges for the world title

is it too soon to say i called this in September
 
I think a lot of momentum is with LeClerc not just from his own team but within the paddock and Vettel must be scratching his head how he could not live with him this weekend
 
It may be Ferrari allowed him to use the full power while Vettel was on reduced power, if he lasted then a Ferrari would get a one,two, he nearly did but Vettel did his usual and it all went tits up:rolleyes::whistle:
 
It may be Ferrari allowed him to use the full power while Vettel was on reduced power, if he lasted then a Ferrari would get a one,two, he nearly did but Vettel did his usual and it all went tits up:rolleyes::whistle:

Yes, that makes sense. But LeClerc engine took a hit for that. Awesome drive still..
 
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