Charles Leclerc features on F1 Beyond The Grid podcast where he talks about his hobbies, time with Sebastian Vettel, Ferrari switch and future, Carlos Sainz and more.
In the beginning of the F1 Beyond The Grid podcast, Leclerc talks about dreaming of driving for Ferrari since childhood, a dream that became reality in late 2018 when he was announced as Vettel’s teammate. He talks about his early days with the team.
How impressed he was, almost feeling lost as there were so many people there and not knowing who to approach at first but it was soon rectified. Leclerc states he felt comfortable from day one, feeling it took a year to understand everything 100%.
Mesmerised by the detail and analysis that went into everything and felt that he and all drivers are always learning when they take to the track. He then spoke of returning to playing the Piano during the first lockdown, he had played when younger but never had lessons but plays when he has free time.
Leclerc reckons it helps unwinding from F1. He also plays Chess against Carlos Sainz and plays Paddle also which he reckons helps his reflexes for racing. Speaking of the Spaniard, the Monegasque thinks their relationship is very good at Ferrari.
Sainz’s best strength is his work rate, still on good terms with previous teammate Vettel despite incidents in 2019 and 2020. The work rate is very close to Mattia Binotto also. Talking about the future, Leclerc doesn’t see driving for Ferrari until 2024 a risk and he is happy to stay there for his whole F1 career, even.
Moving on to races, Leclerc noted that 2019 Bahrain GP was a disappointment where he lost due to issue, but it gave him great confidence for the future at each GP weekend. He appreciated his 2019 success a lot after the disappointments of 2020.
Leclerc then revisited his first win at Spa, which came under somber circumstances, having lost Anthoine Hubert. His and Jules Bianchi’s deaths did not change his attitude towards motorsport but. He added that the wins at Spa and Monza, the team did not treat him any differently to Vettel.
Talking about his rivalry with Max Verstappen, he feels it is still the same as how it was in karting. At the same time, he feels he and Lewis Hamilton differ greatly. Finishing off the F1 podcast, Leclerc discussed about the 2021 season and also the upcoming 2022 changes.
Here’s the podcast: https://audioboom.com/posts/7904517-charles-leclerc-on-growing-as-a-driver-committing-to-ferrari-and-more
The article was written by Neil Farrell
Here’s Charles Leclerc on feeling more complete from 2019
