He’s been steadily climbing the F1 leaderboard since first jumping onto the scene in 2018 – and Charles Leclerc is now certainly one of the sport’s heartthrob’s with even Princess Charlene of Monaco seemingly a fan of the driver.
The Monégasque, 24, whose father was F3 racer Hervé Leclerc, made his mark in racing from an early age – winning the Monaco Kart Cup in 2010, the CIK-FIA Academy Trophy and the Junior World Cup in 2011.
As well as being supported by his family, he also takes comfort from his affectionate girlfriend, architecture student Charlotte Sine, who fills her Instagram page with PDA moments shared by the couple while jet-setting around the world.
But it hasn’t always been a smooth and happy journey for the sportsman; in 2015 his role model and godfather French F1 driver Jules Bianchi died nine months after a horrific accident at the 2015 Japanese Grand Prix.
Earlier this month, Charles was seen greeting Charlene at this year’s Monaco Grand Prix, with the princess pecking the driver’s cheek, and this Sunday the current No. 2 will race in the Azerbaijan Grand Prix. F1 fans have admitted the ‘hot driver’ has left them swooning.
He’s been steadily climbing the F1 leaderboard since first jumping onto the scene in 2018 – and Charles Leclerc is now certainly one of the sport’s heartthrob’s with even Princess Charlene of Monaco seemingly a fan of the driver
The Monégasque, 24, whose father was F3 racer Hervé Leclerc, made his mark in racing from an early age – winning the Monaco Kart Cup in 2010, the CIK-FIA Academy Trophy and the Junior World Cup in 2011
Earlier this month, Charles was seen greeting Charlene at this year’s Monaco Grand Prix, with the princess pecking the driver’s cheek, and this Sunday the current No. 2 will race in the Azerbaijan Grand Prix
As well as being supported by his family, he also takes comfort from his affectionate girlfriend, architecture student Charlotte Sine
Charlotte fills her Instagram page with PDA moments shared by the couple while jet-setting around the world
Born October 16 1997, Charles enjoyed racing from a young age, thanks to his family’s involvement in the sport.
He received his big break in F1 in 2018 with Alfa Romeo Sauber F1 before continuing in 2019 with the prestigious Scuderia Ferrari alongside four-time World Champion Sebastian Vettel.
Charles finished fourth in the World Championship and extended his contract with Ferrari until 2024. In 2021, he finished seventh.
The driver, who went to the Ferrari Academy, is noted as a fine linguist; He turns from Italian to French to English with barely a misplaced pronoun. He would’ve become an architect if his racing career had not blossomed.
The sad stories of his father’s death and that of Bianchi, the last F1 driver to die through racing, aged 25 in 2015, are entwined.
For Herve, a former F3 racer, started Charles’s karting life by taking him to the track of his friend Philippe Bianchi, father of Jules.
Born October 16 1997, Charles enjoyed racing from a young age, thanks to his family’s involvement in the sport
He received his big break in F1 in 2018 with Alfa Romeo Sauber F1 before continuing in 2019 with the prestigious Scuderia Ferrari alongside four-time World Champion Sebastian Vettel
Charles finished fourth in the World Championship and extended his contract with Ferrari until 2024. In 2021, he finished seventh. Pictured with Prince Albert and Princess Charlene of Monaco last month
It was then Jules who suggested that Nicolas Todt, the son of FIA president Jean Todt, should manage Charles. The two families are close.
Herve lost his fight against a long illness in June 2017, a few days before his son’s F2 race in Azerbaijan.
With composure, Charles took pole position and won the feature race. Aged 19, he continued to churn out the results to add the F2 title to his honours as karting, F3 and GP3 champion.
Speaking in 2018 about his victory in Azerbaijan, he said: ‘It felt amazing but also tough because everything was so raw.
‘The hardest moment emotionally was the pole position. It was the first time I have cried for anything. I was crying in my helmet because I couldn’t believe we did pole.
The driver, who went to the Ferrari Academy, is noted as a fine linguist; He turns from Italian to French to English with barely a misplaced pronoun. He would’ve become an architect if his racing career had not blossomed
Charles is an ambassador for the Princess Charlene of Monaco Foundation
‘I became a lot more mature after my father’s death and now I see things completely differently. The pressure, I feel it, but 20 times less.
‘It put all of life into a different perspective. You realise what are the really important things.’
Charles also suffered the loss of his friend and F2 driver Anthoine Hubert, who died just before Leclerc experienced his maiden Formula One win in Belgium.
An emotional Charles said at the time: ‘On one hand, this is a childhood dream realised. On the other, it has been a very difficult weekend. We have lost a friend first.
‘It’s very difficult in this situation so I would like to dedicate my first win to him. I did my first race with Anthoine when I was seven. There were Esteban (Ocon) and Pierre (Gasly) too. We were four kids dreaming of F1.
‘We grew up in karting together for many, many years, so to lose Anthoine was a big shock for me and everyone in the sport.’
Meanwhile, Charles is currently dating Charlotte Sine. The couple went official in December 2019, after Charlotte – who speaks French, English and Italian – shared a series of loved-up snaps of the pair on a skiing holiday
‘It was the first situation for several of us where we lost someone on track and then we race the next day. It is obviously quite challenging to close the visor and go through this exact same corner (Eau Rouge, where Hubert died) at the same speed, but that’s what you have to do.’
Charles is an ambassador for the Princess Charlene of Monaco Foundation.
He said of his appointment: ‘Apart my activities of Formula 1 driver, I have a passion for scuba diving.
‘When HSH Princess Charlene contacted me to become an ambassador of her Foundation, I immediately responded positively because very sensitive to the cause defended by the foundation.
‘HSH Princess Charlene is also a high-performance athlete, and we share the same values of sports.
Reaction: Charles has left fans of F1 swooning following his recent appearances
‘Through the foundation – which aims is to raise public awareness about learning to swim to avoid drowning – I am very happy to join this cause alongside HSH Princess Charlene.’
Meanwhile, Charles is currently dating Charlotte Sine. The couple went official in December 2019, after Charlotte – who speaks French, English and Italian – shared a series of loved-up snaps of the pair on a skiing holiday.
Since then she’s frequently declared her love for the handsome driver to her 276,000 Instagram fans, declaring him ‘the one’ and her ‘world’.
Charles was previously in a relationship with Giada Gianni (reportedly a friend of Charlotte’s) for around four years. But despite engagement rumours the pair broke up in 2019.
Afterwards the Italian shared an Instagram video declaring: ‘Charles left me. He wants to devote himself only to Ferrari.’
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