$125 million worth Charles Leclerc ranked as 25th most marketable athlete in the world ahead of Max Verstappen

Charles Leclerc ranked 25th in a list of the World’s Most Marketable athletes ahead of Red Bull driver Charles Leclerc.

Since making his F1 debut in 2018, Leclerc has gone on to become one of the most popular drivers. The Monegasque has won 5 GPs during his time in the sport and all of them came with Ferrari. Off the track, he has multiple sponsors and endorsements which have made him hugely marketable.

The most marketable driver in Formula 1 today is Lewis Hamilton, and there were no surprises about that when SportsPro released their list. However, Leclerc finishing ahead of Verstappen finished was something fans did not see coming.

Verstappen is a two-time World Champion, having won his most recent Title at the Japanese GP two weeks ago. He’s the best in the sport, but it seems that the sponsors think otherwise because Leclerc is more marketable than him according to the list. Leclerc ranks at 25th, whereas Verstappen is 33rd (his former car number!)

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Who are the other F1 drivers on the list other than Charles Leclerc?

Leclerc, Verstappen and Hamilton were sure to be on the list. However, there were some other obvious choices from the fans’ perspective who missed out. This mainly includes the McLaren duo of Lando Norris and Daniel Ricciardo, both of whom are immensely popular stars of the sport.

Ricciardo and Norris did not make the top 50 cut, but there were two other drivers who did. Hamilton’s teammate George Russell ranked 35th, immediately followed by Verstappen’s teammate Sergio Perez in 36th.

These five athletes were the only F1 drivers who were in the list.

Also read: Lando Norris who earns $20 million can’t live without his $395,000 Richard Mille watch

Leclerc hoping to get the better of Max Verstappen in 2023

The 2022 season started off on a very positive note for Leclerc, with two wins in the first three races. Since then, reliability issues and mistakes have seen him and Ferrari give up on huge points to Verstappen.

The Dutch driver, who approached this campaign coming on the back of an intense and tiring 2021, had a relatively easy year. He has already clinched the Drivers’ Title with four races remaining, and Red Bull are expected to clinch the Constructors’ Title at this weekend’s US GP.

Leclerc will be hoping that he and Ferrari bounce back and learn from the mistakes. The 25-year-old will definitely approach the next season with hopes of challenging for the World Championship.