Charles Leclerc has produced some iconic moments throughout his Formula 1 career so ahead of his first year partnering with Lewis Hamilton. F1 Oversteer is looking into the best moments over the years including his first win and pole position.
Leclerc rose to fame after success in national karting championships, winning the French PACA Championship in 2005, 2006, and 2008. He would later achieve success at an international level, before progressing to junior formulas.
After being the runner-up in the Formula Renault 2.0 championship and the Macau Grand Prix in 2015, Leclerc would go on to achieve success in the GP3 Series and Formula 2 before making his debut in F1 in 2017.
Leclerc was already part of the Ferrari Young Driver programme and was put in their sister team Alfa Romeo for the 2018 season. In the non-competitive car, Leclerc struggled initially but found his feet with points finishes in Azerbaijan, Spain, Canada, France and Austria.
After finishing 13th in the Drivers’ Championship in the eighth fastest car, Ferrari decided to replace Kimi Raikkonen with him for 2019 and he has been with the Maranello-based squad ever since.
When did Charles Leclerc make his Formula 1 debut?
Leclerc made his debut at the 2018 Australian Grand Prix driving the Sauber C37, in which he placed 13th after qualifying in 18th place.
Charles Leclerc took his first pole position in Formula 1 at the 2019 Bahrain Grand Prix
After being promoted to Ferrari in 2019, he achieved almost instant success when he qualified on pole for the second round of the 2019 season: the Bahrain Grand Prix.
Leclerc would go on to lead the race for 48 laps before one of his engine cylinders stopped working, prompting Lewis Hamilton to overtake him and later Valtteri Bottas on lap 54.
When did Charles Leclerc take his first podium finish in Formula 1?
After dealing with the heartbreak of losing his first race win with Ferrari, Leclerc could at least be consoled by the fact that he finished on the podium for the first time at the 2019 Bahrain Grand Prix.
It was the first podium for a Monegasque driver since Louis Chiron finished third at the 1950 Monaco Grand Prix.
Where did Charles Leclerc win his first F1 Grand Prix?
Leclerc would have to wait another 11 races before achieving his first victory in F1 at the 2019 Belgian Grand Prix. After starting from pole he managed to hold off Lewis Hamilton by just 0.981s at the finish line, who was driving in the superior Mercedes.
He dedicated the race win to Anthoine Hubert, who died in a Formula 2 race on the same weekend on the Saturday and whom he had been racing against during his years in junior formulas.
The Monogasque would achieve back-to-back victories after going on to take an iconic victory at Monza in the 2019 Italian Grand Prix in front of the adoring Tifosi fans.
Charles Leclerc’s most iconic drives for Ferrari
Leclerc has achieved some iconic victories for Ferrari, notably when he finally broke his Monaco ‘curse’ at the 2024 running of the race.
It had been a dream of his to win on the street of where he grew up and Leclerc had came close on several occasions, including when he started from pole in 2021. But after crashing in qualifying, he was forced to retire before the race had even started with gearbox issues.
The next time would come in 2022 when Leclerc was on pole by over three-tenths to teammate Carlos Sainz. But after a mistake in their pit stop strategy, Leclerc was forced to drop outside the top three positions and effectively conceded yet another victory.
In 2024 he qualified on pole with a stunning effort, taking a lights-to-flag victory after an early red flag effectively prevented anyone from needing to take a pit stop.
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