Ferrari’s Charles Leclerc is more than satisfied with how his racing career has developed so far as he prepares for one of the biggest step in 2019 F1 season.
All his career, Leclerc has been the one to watch as an upcoming talent especially with his karting performances with multiple title wins already in his young career. Even the step up in single-seater wasn’t a huge disappointment.
The Monegasque though did not win any championships in his first two years but had race wins already in competitive junior series’. His first title only came in GP3 Series in 2016 when he became a part of the Ferrari driver academy.
He lit the series as a rookie and followed it up with a dominant run in the FIA Formula 2 Championship in 2017 as well to win the series – again as a rookie. By then he already had time in a F1 car with Ferrari, Haas and Sauber.
The 21-year-old eventually made his F1 debut in 2018 with Sauber and became a household name. He did not start well but once he picked up, there was no stopping as he finished 13th as the best rookie – for which he won the FIA award as well.
The ultimate challenge though comes in 2019 when he steps to Ferrari against four-time champion Sebastian Vettel. The confidence is high indeed and reflecting back on the graduations, Leclerc feels quite satisfied with the progress he made at each level.
“It is difficult to say whether I have learnt everything [this year] because I haven’t had my first race with Ferrari, so I don’t know how ready I am, but one thing for sure is I am very happy with how I have developed in my career as a driver,” he said to FormulaRapida.net.
“I am [certainly] really looking forward for the next step [with Ferrari]. It has been a very good season [with Sauber] in all point of views for me [personally], so I think I picked most of them (boxes to tick in his rookie F1 season) for sure.”
While Leclerc is yet to get his first taste of a grand prix weekend with Ferrari but his official duties already started off in the two-day Pirelli test in Abu Dhabi where he topped Day 2 by lowering the benchmark set by Vettel on Day 1.
“For sure it was an emotional day, because it’s a day I’ve been waiting for for a long time and I never thought it would come,” Leclerc said after the test. “But today this was the reality and I’m very happy.
“It’s very special for sure, getting into the car with the knowledge that this will be my team next year. It’s very special, but when I drive a car I always want to go as fast as possible and do the best possible job for the team. And that hasn’t changed at all.”