Charles Leclerc had one of his strongest seasons at Ferrari in 2024, having come close to winning the Constructors’ Championship with the Maranello outfit.
Ferrari went into the final race of the season with 21 points separating them and McLaren, however, they suffered an early setback when Leclerc was handed a 10-place grid penalty for taking new power unit components.
The Monogasque started the race down in P19 but that was quickly P8 within a few corners, after Leclerc put in an ‘epic’ opening lap that included overtaking 11 cars.
After making his way up to third place, Leclerc and Carlos Sainz were on for a double podium but with Lando Norris in the lead it meant they would end up missing out on the Constructors’ crown by 14 points in the end.
Although Leclerc’s efforts were ultimately not paid with title success, he does come away from the 2024 season close to a new Ferrari record.
Charles Leclerc close to Sebastian Vettel and Rubens Barrichello’s Ferrari podium record
The podium capped off a run of 13 for Leclerc this year, which puts him on a total of 43 podiums since joining Ferrari in 2019.
It puts him just one away from Fernando Alonso (44) and nine off Kimi Raikkonen (52), while he is also close to the record shared by Sebastian Vettel and Rubens Barrichello.
| Driver | Podiums for Ferrari |
| Michael Schumacher | 116 |
| Rubens Barrichello | 55 |
| Sebastian Vettel | 55 |
| Kimi Raikkonen | 52 |
| Fernando Alonso | 44 |
| Charles Leclerc | 43 |
Vettel managed to achieve 55 podiums during his six seasons at Ferrari, which means Leclerc would only need to achieve another 12 podiums to equal that record.
Given this success this season and with it likely that Ferrari will produce a race-winning car in 2025, Leclerc could end up achieving the feat.
Charles Leclerc tipped to beat Lewis Hamilton at Ferrari
Leclerc will go up against seven-time world champion Lewis Hamilton at Ferrari next season, one of the most anticipated partnerships on the grid.
Ferrari has confirmed that Hamilton and Leclerc will enjoy equal status at the beginning of their partnership, although the latter is the more established driver having come up through their young driver programme.
Nico Rosberg expects Leclerc to beat Hamilton based on the Briton’s form against George Russell this year, which has seen him outraced and out-qualified for a second time in their three-year partnership.
Martin Brundle also expects Leclerc to beat Hamilton, although also thinks the pair will have a good working relationship.
