Rising to the Challenge: Why Charles Leclerc is the Driver to Lead Ferrari to Victory
I feel for Charles. In that, I feel bad for him. He’s the Formula 1 driver for arguably the most historic racing team ever to build a racing car at the pinnacle of motorsport — Ferrari.
And let me tell you why.
The start of the 2023 season has been nothing short of nightmarish for Charlie Leclerc. As fast as he is, the nice guy from the Principality of Monaco has found himself in a situation where he cannot rely on the one thing under his control — his race craft. His team, car, and universe all seem to work against him.
If you’ve just happened to read this article because you find Leclerc other worldly handsome then you’d be positively pleased to know that Charlie Boy drives way, way, way…… better than he looks.
In fact, he’s so good that on his good day, with similar cars, there’s nothing between himself, Max Verstappen, Lewis Hamilton or even Ayrton Senna.
Here’s why Charles Leclerc deserves the best from Ferrari.
Charles’ Intent
Charles Leclerc entered the Ferrari F1 racing team as the replacement for the legendary, and most recent Ferrari World Champion, Kimi Raikkonen. Kimi is my all-time favourite driver so I was apprehensive about anyone who would take his place. But then I read what Charles said at the 2019 Ferrari F1 SF90 car launch event. When the press asked him if he would be ready to play second fiddle to Sebastián Vettel, this is what he said —
“In any team there needs to be a number one and a number two in a 50–50 situation,” said Leclerc.
“But then also on my side it’s my job then to turn things around.
“It’s not going to be easy, I have a lot to learn, but I’ll push for that.”
And just like that, Charles had made his intentions clear to his teammate and the rest of the paddock. This is why I find him to be in league with drivers like Max, Alonso, and Vettel, to name a few; full attack mode, all the time, everywhere — on track and off it.
Here was a driver who didn’t just know he was fast, but he was making it clear to his 4-time world champion Ferrari teammate that he was never going to play second fiddle. Because he had the pace.
Charles’ Pace
Pace in Formula 1 terms means speed + skill + mindset + grip/tyre performance + car setup + car-package performance and a miriad of other complicated, emotional, mental things that factor into a race driver and his team’s performance
The F1 paddock first caught a glimpse of the threat of Leclerc’s raw pace looming on the horizon in 2017. The racing carnival was at the Hungaroring for mid-season testing, just after the 2017 Hungarian Grand Prix and Charles got his first taste of race-spec Ferrari machinery during a Grand Prix weekend. He was allowed 1 day of testing in the Ferrari SF70H and proceeded to bang in 98 laps and the fastest time of the day!
Bear in mind that in 2017, Charles was blazing through F2, the junior category of Formula 1 and would go on to win the F2 championship in his rookie season. And despite not having any prior track time in the Ferrari SF70H, Charles hit the ground, not running, but flying.
I suspect that at the time, Kimi knew it would be this man who’d be his replacement when he said -
“It’s not easy to do well in a different car from what you normally drive. But Leclerc has shown great progress, and for sure he will do great things in the future”
Yeah, Kimi’s a nice guy.
Team-mate Demolition
Since his arrival in Formula 1, Charles Leclerc has beaten his teammate in every season.
In 2019 he came 4th to Vettel’s 5th place in the standings. Their first year together as teammates and Charles’s first year at a top team with only 1 year of experience under his belt.
Sebastian Vettel simmers as Charles Leclerc establishes himself, in hushed whispers up and down the paddock, as the lead driver at Ferrari F1. While Sebastian Vettel is a sensational 4x world champion, I believe he suffered from a severe case of entitlement at Ferrari, which I suppose is a consequence of being a racing driver. Despite it being a team sport the driver can or has to only think about himself when he’s strapped inside the cockpit of an F1 car. Selfishness to an extent is a necessity of the sport.
But Vettel’s entitlement and the occasional red mist clouded his vision, causing him to make some high-profile errors, the most infamous being him veering ever-so-slightly to the left on the Reta Oposta in the run down to turn 4 during the 2019 Brazilian GP. The move was slight but it was enough to cause Vettel’s Ferrari to crash into Charles’, taking them both out of the race.
On May 2020 it was announced even before the 2020 season began that Seb Vettel would depart Ferrari at the end of the season. And just like that, within a year’s time, Charles Leclerc had sent his 4x World Champion teammate on his way — out of a top team and relegated to the midfield, where he would languish for the next 2 years, armed with nothing but a slow Aston Martin.
The 2020 season was like a bad dream for Seb and come 2021, Carlos Sainz was hired to replace the departing 4x World Champion.
Sainz is a formidable foe, but Charles is just too quick for him. Until proven otherwise. But I doubt the intention ever was to bring a direct rival to Charles into the team. The Ferrari bosses know that Sainz is a good team player and I suspect that on some level, with no offence to Carlos, he knows that he’s just not quick enough to beat Charles, even on his best day.
But in the world of F1, one can never be too sure.
Charles’ enemy — his team
“Well if he’s so quick why hasn’t he won a championship yet?”, you may ask. And I will say that it's because Formula 1 is a sport of many variables, intense or rather very intense competition and a high degree of technicality.
And to execute at an F1 level of performance needs a team that operates the way Monica Bellucci’s face looks— smooth and damn near perfect.
The F1 team needs to work according to a set of design and engineering regulations to build a car that the F1 driver can take to its mechanical limit, and beyond. And then once they hit the track, the team has to organize everything and everyone around their two cars and drivers — mechanics, car setup, strategy calls, tyres — such that they put in the fastest time on the board.
Ferrari has been incapable of covering all bases for the past many years.
Despite being equipped with a fast car, the F1–75, the 2022 Formula 1 season was a rollercoaster ride for Ferrari and its fans. Only this ride was scary and downright disappointing with a few blatantly stupid additions. Poor engine reliability, and idiotic strategy calls in Monaco, Silverstone and Hungary meant clear, confident minds were far and few within the team. Overall frustration even caused Leclerc to overreach and spin out of the French GP.
When a driver is repeatedly let down by his team, I presume it's difficult to stay focused and motivated.
And that’s why I feel bad for Charles Leclerc. Ferrari may be killing his motivation and self-belief in becoming an F1 World Champion. Unintentionally of course, but in this sport the leaderboard speaks for itself.
It is well known that before Sergio Marchionne, the President of Fiat Chrysler & Chairman of Ferrari until 2018, passed away, one of his last wishes was to see Charles Leclerc driving for Ferrari with the sole purpose of bringing back the World Drivers Championship and Constructors crown back to Maranello. Because he believed in the young man. Not just because of his raw pace but also for the fact that there’s a certain charm and likeability about Charles Leclerc.
Charlie Boy has proven time and again that he is more than capable of bringing victory to Maranello. And that too with sheer devotion and passion for the Scarlet team and the Tifosi. One of the main pieces of compelling evidence to support this claim is the epic duel between Leclerc and Hamilton around the ultra-fast Monza circuit in 2019 when the Ferrari driver triumphed in spectacular fashion over the then 4x World Champion Mercedes driver in a dog fight to the finish line.
I believe Charles is the right man for the job of getting Ferrari back to winning ways. Just like Schumi did. And for that, the team need to provide him with a fast car and race strategy capable of fighting for wins consistently. And I hope Fred Vassuer has a solid plan. Because Charles deserves it. And we the fans deserve to see Charles battle the champion with everything he’s got.
We deserve Charles v Max
Max Verstappen and his Red Bull RB19 are running laps around the rest of the field at the moment. And it's quite amazing to see the Dutchman move from strength to strength.
Like his long-time nemesis Leclerc, Max has endured many a challenging year before he rose to regular-winning ways. His time at Red Bull from 2016–2020 was tough and he had to play the long game to be in a position to establish himself as he has today. And he’s been aided fantastically by Christian Horner, Adrian Newey and the rest of the ultra-efficient Red Bull team.
Max Verstappen is at the top of his game and I cannot wait for Charles Leclerc to join him there. Because we deserve that epic duel across the race tracks of Earth.
Imagine that! Ferrari v Red Bull. Charles v Max. Old nemesis. A titanic championship battle that goes down to the last corner of the last lap of the last race. That would be a great time for Formula 1.
