F1: Charles Leclerc in profile

bet365 News Team Updated: 27 May 24 14:07

One of the biggest names in Formula 1, Charles Leclerc will be hoping 2024 is the year he can realise his potential and claim a maiden Drivers’ Championship.

After a maiden season with Sauber, Leclerc was promoted to a seat with F1 giants Ferrari in 2019 and has been competing for the Scuderia ever since.

Here’s everything you need to know about the star from Monaco.

Formula 1

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Born	16th October, 1997
Age	25
Birthplace	Monte Carlo, Monaco
F1 current team	Ferrari
F1 previous team(s)	Sauber
F1 debut	2018 Australian Grand Prix
F1 titles	0
F1 2024 odds	20/1

Leclerc immersed in motorsport

Growing up in F1’s spiritual home of Monaco, the son of a former Formula 3 driver Herve Leclerc, Charles and his brother Arthur, who is also part of Ferrari’s driver programme, spent their young lives surrounded by motorsport.

It was therefore not a surprise when Charles started karting in 2005 and was immediately good at it. Only one driver was better than Leclerc, a young Max Verstappen denying him the karting world title in 2013.

While Verstappen was fast-tracked into F1, Leclerc moved on to work his way through the junior single-seater ranks, winning the GP3 series in 2016 before a dominant run to the Formula 2 title the following year.

Leclerc was already part of the Ferrari academy by that point and in 2018 he was handed a drive with Sauber.

Il Predestinato puts Vettel in the shade

Sauber were struggling towards the rear of the grid when Leclerc arrived, but he managed to pilot the car to 10 points finishes, securing 13th in the drivers’ standings, while reaching Q3 eight times in qualifying.

It was his incredible pace in qualifying that caught the eye and the F1 Rookie of the Year for 2018 was soon promoted to drive for Ferrari.

Paired with four-time world champion Sebastian Vettel at the Scuderia, Leclerc was expected to play a supporting role to the illustrious German driver, only to outperform him in his maiden campaign with the Italian marque.

Leclerc won his maiden Grand Prix in Belgium that year and backed that victory up by storming to victory in Ferrari’s home race at Monza.

The 25-year-old also chalked up eight further podiums, seven pole positions and 10 fastest laps to lay down a huge marker.

Vettel struggled to keep up, questioning how Leclerc could be so fast in qualifying, with his colleague on full attack for every session on a Saturday.

Leclerc left languishing

The 2019 campaign would be Leclerc’s best before for a while, with Ferrari failing to produce a competitive car in 2020 and 2021 - Leclerc managing a combined three podiums in those two years.

He would comfortably outperform Vettel in 2020 before the German departed and Leclerc was promoted to become Ferrari's lead driver, albeit the team doesn’t like to differentiate between him and his current colleague Carlos Sainz Jr.

Although this was a trying period for Leclerc and his world title ambitions, not being in the spotlight allowed him to hone his craft.

Leclerc found a better balance between qualifying and race day having previously hindered his chances of a strong Sunday by thrashing his Ferrari on Saturday.

His tyre and engine management skills have steadily improved, without compromising the aggressive style which makes him such a fierce competitor on the track.

He was finally able to put everything he’s learned in F1 to good use in 2022 when enjoying the best year of his career to date, finishing runner-up to Verstappen in the World Drivers' Championship.

Hopes for 2024

After Verstappen’s total domination in 2023, a season in which Leclerc finished fifth in the standings, the Monaco racer has plenty of ground to make up on the flying Dutchman.

Leclerc finds himself in the chasing pack and is an outsider at 20/1 to claim his first Drivers’ Championship this year.

If Ferrari can finally address their reliability issues, Leclerc will be hopeful he can be in the mix at the business end of the season.