Ferrari driver Charles Leclerc will look back on the 2024 Formula 1 season with plenty of pride.
After years of bad luck at his home race in Monaco, the Ferrari star finally stood on the top step of the podium at the end of an emotional and gruelling race where he had to hold off Oscar Piastri from the first lap.
Damon Hill was incredibly proud of Leclerc after that win having watched his own father dominate the streets of Monte Carlo in the past.
Charles Leclerc then held off both McLaren drivers again at Ferrari’s most important race of the season at Monza, using the perfect strategy to get the team’s season back on track.
The 27-year-old won again in Austin and secured three more podiums during the final run-in of the season.
He finished third in the Drivers’ Championship behind Max Verstappen and Lando Norris, however, aside from a brief time after his win in Monte Carlo, he was never really spoken about as a challenger for the title.
| Position | Drivers’ Championship | Points |
| 1 |
Max Verstappen |
437 |
| 2 |
Lando Norris |
374 |
| 3 |
Charles Leclerc |
356 |
| 4 |
Oscar Piastri |
292 |
| 5 |
Carlos Sainz Jr |
290 |
| 6 |
George Russell |
245 |
| 7 |
Lewis Hamilton |
223 |
| 8 |
Sergio Perez |
152 |
| 9 |
Fernando Alonso |
70 |
| 10 |
Pierre Gasly |
42 |
Ferrari didn’t have the car to help Leclerc mount a proper championship challenge across the year, although Verstappen will argue he was fighting with a similar issue at Red Bull.
That doesn’t mean it was a wasted season for the Monegasque driver though, as Karun Chandhok explained on the Sky Sports F1 Podcast.
Karun Chandhok thinks Charles Leclerc eliminated ‘weakness’ on the team radio in 2024
Talking about the 27-year-old’s most recent F1 campaign, Chandhok said: “I had Charles Leclerc in second because I thought in terms of consistency, Ferrari weren’t as consistently competitive as McLaren.
“But Charles, I thought, did an outstanding job this year, it really was a brilliant season.
“And he made changes as well. One of those weaknesses, Ted, you listed a lot of the radio as much as I did, was indecision on strategy and they’d be dithering, wouldn’t they? Him and Xavi Marcos.
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“They made the decision to change to Bryan Bozzi. He got Jock Clear in his corner still. They worked well.
“And I thought, there’s a strong argument to say 2022 was Leclerc’s best season because he finished second. But he made more mistakes.
“And I actually thought this was his best season in Formula 1.”
Charles Leclerc’s difficult race engineer relationships at Ferrari
Leclerc’s best finish in the Drivers’ Championship thus far is second in the 2022 season as Chandhok mentioned.
However, one of the reason he was no match for Verstappen that year was the poor strategy choices he and Ferrari were consistently making during race.
Leclerc‘s relationship with Bozzi hasn’t always been good but has definitely improved as the year has gone on.
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Team principal Frederic Vasseur will know he has to manage that partnership closely as well as help Leclerc’s new teammate Lewis Hamilton settle in.
Hamilton has relied heavily on his brilliant relationship with Peter Bonnington, but his race engineer isn’t following him to Maranello.
It means that Leclerc may already have an advantage over his new teammate given his previous experience with his race team.
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