Arthur Leclerc, the younger brother of Charles Leclerc, started his F2 career this year by driving for DAMS. The driver won the Karting Championship in 2014, opening a gate into the world of Formula racing. Despite his accolades, Charles Leclerc’s biography reveals the younger Leclerc had to put his ambitions on hold, 8 years before his F2 debut. With Charles needing $810,000 in funding to step into F3 and fulfill his godfather, Jules Bianchi’s legacy, Arthur had to step away from racing as their father did not have enough money to support both drivers.
The Leclerc brothers hail from a family that wasn’t very affluent back when they were still kids. Their father was also a racing driver who competed in F3 in the 1980s and 90s. However, not much success came his way, as the family often faced financial struggles. Given their weak financial backing, Charles Leclerc had to bank on sponsor funding to get him to F3, but that was never going to be enough. Thus, the youngest Leclerc child made the ultimate sacrifice.
In the end, it turned out to be the right decision, with the senior Leclerc brother seeing immense success and becoming a millionaire. Now, the younger brother can have a much better time in F2, knowing there is no lack of funds for him.
Arthur Leclerc’s sacrifice helped Charles Leclerc his ultimate dream
By 2015, Charles Leclerc had already earned the renown for being a prodigy in the sport. When he made his F1 debut in 2018 with Sauber, the Monegasque lived up to his hype, quickly earning a seat in the Ferrari lineup in the following year. He now stands as one of the most marketable drivers on the grid and is also a highly celebrated entity in all of Italy. Keeping all things in mind, the gamble taken by the Leclerc family was the right call back then.
“Immediately we had to stop for three years, because for my father it was too expensive to support Charles and me at the same time.”
With Jr. Leclerc also being a Ferrari Academy Driver, there are great chances of him becoming a driver in F1 soon, but for that, he will need to improve his performance in F2. Should he do a good job in DAMS, the Monegasque might see opportunities open up for him in teams like Haas and Alfa Romeo, both of which have vacancies heading into the 2024 season.
Arthur Leclerc hasn’t had the best year in F2
The 22-year-old currently sits P15 in the F2 driver’s standings with 41 points to his name. The Monegasque driver’s best race came in Melbourne, where he conjured 20 points from the Sprint and Feature races. With only the feature race in Monza and a subsequent race weekend in Yas Marina left in F2, there isn’t much left for the younger Leclerc brother to achieve this season.
Arthur Leclerc has made plenty of mistakes throughout the F2 season, which has massively contributed to him not securing a higher place in the championship. The mistakes have also led to him crashing during the race, which further damaged his ambitions.
Heading into 2024, Arthur Leclerc will not have much to look forward to in terms of getting a call-up to F1. After a forgettable season, he will look to come back stronger next year in hopes of securing an F1 seat in 2025.ar
