Charles Leclerc spent his rookie F1 season with Sauber in 2018 and moved to Ferrari the very next campaign.
Leclerc came into F1 with plenty of promise. He had been a Ferrari junior driver for quite some time and was hailed as a generational talent. In 2017, he won the Formula 2 Championship with increased expectations placed on his shoulders.
In his first season in the sport, Leclerc showed everyone how good he was. He guided his Sauber car to finishes that were way higher than what it was capable of and Ferrari decided they wanted him in their car as soon as possible. Towards the end of the 2018 F1 season, it was announced that Kimi Raikkonen would leave Ferrari to join Sauber (now known as Alfa Romeo).
For Leclerc, his lifelong dream was completed when his move to Scuderia Ferrari became official. On Twitter, a fan shared a picture of the exact moment the young Monegasque got to know about his dream move.
. @jucerasoli : “It was the Thursday of the 2018 Singapore GP, Charles had just been announced as a Ferrari driver. He was much more shy than today, still not used to having so many people around him. He looks to me like he’s asking for help in the midst of journalists.”
😭❤️ pic.twitter.com/hLnT2plYh2
— Charles Leclerc Fan Page (@LeclercNews) September 24, 2022
Leclerc’s first season with Ferrari was fairly impressive, with him winning two incredible races in Spa-Francorchamps and Monza. However, Ferrari’s troubles with their illegal engine components limited his and the team’s results that year.
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2022 became the first year Charles Leclerc eyed the World Championship
In 2019, Mercedes were still the most dominant team on the grid. In spite of Ferrari’s illegal engine, they weren’t fast enough to catch up to the Silver Arrows. The FIA deemed their engine illegal ahead of the US Grand Prix that year, and it started problems behind the scene that carried into the 2020 season as well.
2020 turned to be Ferrari’s worst ever season in 40 years. The finished sixth in the Constructors’ Standings, behind McLaren, Racing Point and Renault. They didn’t win a single race that year, and spent the majority of time scrambling for positions in the midfield.
The following year, they returned to form. It was clear that they made huge progress, and with six podium finishes the Maranello-based outfit clinched P3 in the Standings. 2022, however, was supposed to be the year they finally fought for the Title again.
This year’s F1-75 is a car that is capable of winning races, and early into the season, it seemed as though they were favorites to do so. However, reliability problems, mistakes made and strategy errors cost the team huge points to Max Verstappen and Red Bull. As a result, the first year Charles Leclerc could actually fight for the Title, turned out to be a disappointment.
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