Surprising $12.2 million gift to Charles Leclerc by Ferrari

Tanish Chachra | 12/07/2022
Surprising $12.2 million gift to Charles Leclerc by Ferrari

Charles Leclerc was given the costly SF90 car by Ferrari, the car Ferrari used in 2019, for winning the 2019 Italian Grand Prix.

Ferrari in 2018 announced Charles Leclerc would be replacing Kimi Raikkonen in the team. The Monegasque at that time was the hottest F1 prospect, and being from the Ferrari academy, it was obvious he would go on to represent them.

But with great hype comes the great responsibility of proving oneself. And that, Leclerc, did impressively. He rose to prominence in his first season with Ferrari and won two races that year.

Of those couple of wins, one was the most crucial for the Tifosis- the Italian Grand Prix. Leclerc won in Italy, which is Ferrari’s home race, and his team was so happy with the result that they gifted him the 2019 F1 car.

Charles Leclerc

“It’s very difficult to find the words to describe what I felt during this race [at Monza]. I was under a lot of pressure – the whole team was under a lot of pressure,” said Leclerc.

“Because obviously, we were in Italy, Ferrari in Italy is huge, and everyone wanted us to win, so there was a lot of pressure across the team,” he added.

Also read: Nelson Piquet fined $1.8 Million by Brazilian Court for racist remarks on Lewis Hamilton

Will Charles Leclerc make Ferrari champions again?

The Monegasque race driver this year is fully immersed in the championship fight. Though, in the last few races, Red Bull’s Max Verstappen has gained a significant commend over the title race.

But Leclerc’s recent win in Austria was a refreshing sight for the competition. With this, he is only 38 points behind Verstappen, with 11 more races to go.

It remains to be seen whether this season’s verdict will go till the end of the wire or would Red Bull will capitalize on its chances. Ferrari last won its championship in 2008, and Kimi Raikkonen 2007 was the last driver to bring in the drivers’ title for the Tifosis.

Now, fast forward to 2022, Leclerc is the new hope for Ferrari fans to break the drought. But the challenge ahead for Leclerc is tough while vying against the consistency of Verstappen.

Also read: F1 Twitter erupts in dilemma as South African GP is rumoured to return in 2023 at possible expense of Belgian GP

Post Edited By: Tanish Chachra

About the author

Tanish Chachra

Tanish Chachra is the Motorsport editor at The SportsRush. He saw his first race when F1 visited India in 2011, and since then, his romance with the sport has been seasonal until he took up this role in 2020. Reigniting F1's coverage on this site, Tanish has fallen in love with the sport all over again. He loves Kimi Raikkonen and sees a future world champion in Oscar Piastri. Away from us, he loves to snuggle inside his books.

Don’t miss these