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Charles leclerc spends $6000 helmet to give tribute to Jules Bianchi and his parents

Tejas Venkatesh
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Charles leclerc spends $6000 helmet to give tribute to Jules bianchi and parents

Charles Leclerc unveils a new helmet for the 2022 French GP as a tribute to his late father Herve and friend Jules Bianchi.

Ferrari’s Charles Leclerc will be racing this Sunday with an aim to win. He claimed a victory earlier in Austria in style great style.

Charles overtook Red Bull’s Max Verstappen thrice to claim his lead. He has closed in on the 2nd spot in the driver’s standings and is just 38 points behind Max.

Another reason why Leclerc’s morale will be boosted is the location. The 12th round of the season takes place in familiar territory, on the French Riviera.

Leclerc was born and raised in the Mediterranean principality of Monaco. And just 2 hours away, you’d reach Le Castellet, where the circuit Paul Ricard is located.

The French GP is in a known territory for Charles and has been his 2nd home race.He has also claimed that France has a special connection in his heart.

And the Monegasque has prepared a stunning new helmet to race this weekend. The Ferrari driver will be wearing a white helmet with images of moments from his childhood.

The helmet is a fitting tribute to his late father Herve Leclerc and friend Jules Bianchi. It also has the words ‘Papa’ and ‘Jules’ scribed on the rear.

The Monegasque claims his father was the reason he is in F1. And last week marked the passing of his dear friend Jules. Making this a fitting tribute for two individuals closest to his heart.

The Helmet is made by Bell Labs which also provides helmets to Lewis Hamilton amongst other F1 drivers. Their helmets cost from $6000 onwards and are made within the safety regulations of F1.

Also Read: Charles Leclerc feels partly French after anthem goof-up in 2017 F2 Championship

How Charles Leclerc’s father introduced him to racing

Charles Leclerc is one of the finest drivers in the F1 grid. And the Ferrari driver owes it to his father Herve Leclerc. Herve was a racer in his youth and even raced in F3.

Herve used to take his son Charles to races on weekends. This instigated the young kid to have a keen interest in motorsports. He later introduced his son to Karting.

Leclerc said, “My biggest connection with France is that everything started here for me in motorsport. I started in Brignoles, 60 km from Le Castellet. Every Wednesday, Saturday and Sunday when I didn’t have school, I came here with my father.”

Eventually, during his karting days, he would meet Jules Bianchi. Jules took Charles under his stewardship and mentored him closely.

Last week marked 7 years since the passing of Jules. He died in a crash during the 2015 Japanese GP in Suzuka. While his dad, Herve passed away in 2017 before Charles made his F1 debut.

Also Read: Jules Bianchi foresaw what Ferrari superstar is capable of long ago

About the author

Tejas Venkatesh

Tejas Venkatesh

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Tejas Venkatesh is a Motorsports writer at The SportsRush. He started watching F1 in 2007 and fell in love with the sound of the revving V8s. A technical nerd, tejas loves to nerd over the technical beauty only motorsports can achieve. He calls himself a Vettel fanboy and spent the night crying after Hockenheim 2018. Apart from F1, Tejas is an avid Chelsea Fan and loves football.

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