It is easy to overlook how difficult it is to win the Formula One World Championship. Of the 770 drivers who have started a championship race, just 111 have won grand prix and only 34 have won a title. It seems to reason that there is a glut of drivers with title-level talent but lack the good fortune required to advance from contender to champion. Right now, Charles Leclerc fits into that group. Since his debut for Sauber in 2018, he has been regarded as a future great.
Leclerc is entering his sixth season of competition and, at the age of 26, is in what many believe to be his prime. Despite this, what has he accomplished thus far? With five victories, he is tied with Keke Rosberg and John Watson, both of whom are talented drivers but not at the level Leclerc was expected to reach. To make matters worse, a man only a few weeks older than him is vying for what many believe would be his fourth World Championship.
The next several years are critical for Leclerc’s long-term career. Verstappen won his first title at the age of 24, while Lewis Hamilton and Vettel were all 23. Michael Schumacher first won the title at the age of 25. The 26-year-old Monegasque driver became a full-time member of the Ferrari team in 2019, and since then has won five races and claimed 23 pole positions. The alliance now appears to be extended for several years, as Leclerc remains committed to winning the world championship with Ferrari.
I’m very pleased to know that I will be wearing the Scuderia Ferrari race suit for several more seasons to come, Leclerc expressed. To race for this team has been my dream since I was three years old. I used to watch the Monaco Grand Prix from the window of a friend’s apartment at Ste. Devote Corner and I would always look out for the red cars. This team is my second family ever since I joined the Ferrari Driver Academy in 2016 and we have achieved a lot together, fighting through thick and thin over the past five years, he added.
However, I believe the best is yet to come and I can’t wait for this season to start, to make further progress and be competitive at every race. My dream remains that of winning the World Championship with Ferrari and I’m sure that in the years ahead, we will enjoy great times together and make our fans happy, Leclerc concluded.
