Charles Leclerc- Ferrari Driver

No longer a "Junior Driver" - a new thread for this season and further!

https://www.autosport.com/f1/news/149816/leclerc-a-mix-of-schumacher-and-raikkonen--alfa-boss

Charles Leclerc's ex-Formula 1 team manager says the Ferrari driver has a mix of characteristics from world champions Michael Schumacher and Kimi Raikkonen.

Leclerc made his F1 debut with Sauber in 2018 before being promoted into a race seat with Ferrari after just one year.

The Monegasque youngster starred throughout last year, winning two races and finishing fourth in the drivers' standings ahead of four-time world champion team-mate Sebastian Vettel.

Leclerc was rewarded with a new long-term contract at Ferrari, keeping him at the team until the end of 2024.

Long-serving Sauber team manager Beat Zehnder worked with Leclerc through the 2018 season and immediately felt aware he was dealing with a special talent.

"It was a very good season, it was a very interesting season working again with a young kid," Zehnder told Autosport in an interview for a series celebrating 50 years of Sauber in motorsport.

"We've done this before, but for the first time in a long time, we had a newcomer, a very special driver with a very special attitude.

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"I've never seen a driver like Charles before, and it was again very rewarding for all the work we had, for all the difficult times we had, to work with a kid again.

"I've always said that for me, from his speed, he's Kimi Raikkonen, and from his working attitude, he's probably Michael [Schumacher].

"Give him a good car, and he's going to be world champion, definitely."

Zehnder has been part of Sauber's motorsport programme since 1987, working with Schumacher in the early part of his career when he raced sports cars before making his F1 debut.

Zehnder and Raikkonen first met in 2000 when the young Finn was preparing for his rookie F1 season with Sauber in 2001, before linking back up in 2019 upon Raikkonen's return to Hinwil, with the team rebranded as Alfa Romeo Racing.

Leclerc's potential was also recognised by experienced Sauber team-mate Marcus Ericsson, who was not surprised to see the 22-year-old fare so well against Vettel at Ferrari.

"I could tell straightaway that this guy is special, this is a special talent," Ericsson told Autosport.

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"When I saw him joining Ferrari and going up against Vettel, I knew he was going to be super-competitive - but maybe not that he was going to be as good as he was, only in his first year with Ferrari.

"I could tell that he is a very, very special driver and talent. He's definitely helped me to show what kind of driver I am.

"I think especially when he went on and the way he drove last year with Ferrari, [that] has also helped me I think in a way."

 

I hope from what I see from the outside in the last 2 seasons is different than how he works inside, and it's as Zehnder says!

Nice to see Kimi get some recognition btw.

 

CL yesterday at South Garda training in a CL branded kart:

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Yep, he's still training today in the same kart.

 

Makes me eager to kart again: the mental speed of actions reactions decisions in a proper racing kart is faster than the mental speed when dealing with any car, even a 333SP: karting mentally is as fast as ping pong because there is no inertia whereas any form of single seater racing is more like tennis...and any form of sedan racing like volley ball lol. That is why karting is the best school before single seaters...

 

And it also "trashes" you physically: lateral forces can reach up to 3.3Gs.

 

Purest form of racingg!

 

Absolutely! 20 minutes in a proper kart is a SERIOUS workout.

 

It’s my favorite pastime! I’m fortunate to live only 15 minutes from the local track. Too bad everything is shut down now.

 

Quick drive in Maranello Charles

 

AustrianGP 2020 post race week 1

Italian papaers

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I agree with La Gazetta dello Sport, it was a miracle for Leclerc to finish second.

For most of the race, he was in 7th or 6th position, and only attrition brought him to the front.

Ferrari seems to have a mountain to climb before they are competitive.

 

I love his ability and his attitude.

 

Charles rocks! WDC in the making.

 

I like the font. Back to the early eighties.

 

Maybe not at Ferrari though ...

 

I was only thinking that, didn't want to pour salt into the wounds.

 

Other than Max the only attrition in front of Charles was Albon being bumped out by Lewis. Yes he was helped by other attrition which brought out the safety cars, but he still had to make a couple passes which he did accomplish. He was definitely faster at the end than his competitors.

 

Max, Albon, and Lewis's 5 sec penalty....that's the attrition...that's 3 drivers that would have been in front of Leclerc...not to mention Bottas.

So yeah, @william is correct.

 

We can play what-if's and make excuses all day long. Attrition, for ANY reason, is part of every race. Leclerc still made some passes and was faster than others at the end. No drove above the car.

 

All credit to Leclerc, but Ferrari shouldn't be too euphoric about the result.
That second place doesn't reflect the reality.
Their car was not very competitive all weekend.