Charles Leclerc will be measured directly against the most successful Formula 1 driver of all time this year. Last year he once again out-scored Carlos Sainz Jnr, though there wasn’t much between the Ferrari team mates, and there were days Leclerc didn’t quite have the pace.
But the combined strength of their driver line-up was also the reason why Ferrari came so close to snatching the constructors’ championship with the third-quickest car over a flying lap. Leclerc therefore deserves credit for prevailing against a tougher team mate than the other drivers in our top three faced.
That was despite Leclerc’s somewhat faltering start to the year. After brake problems in Bahrain, he delivered a podium finish in Jeddah (which Sainz missed) then was beaten to victory by his team mate in Australia. Leclerc recovered from a poor qualifying effort at Suzuka to trail Sainz in fourth after being told to let him by.
He hit his stride over the following races: Fourth was the best the Ferrari deserved in China, as was third in Miami (plus second in the sprint race) and third at Imola. Then came his classy and cathartic win from pole at home in Monaco.
Charles Leclerc
| Best | Worst | |
|---|---|---|
| GP start | 1 (x3) | 19 |
| GP finish | 1 (x3) | 14 |
| Points | 356 | |
At this point in the season Ferrari stumbled due to a flawed upgrade, and at times it felt Leclerc was over-compensating for the setback. He was fortunate to avoid a stiffer penalty for a daft incident with Lando Norris in practice at Catalunya, endured various setbacks in Austria, and gambled fruitlessly on an early switch to intermediates at Silverstone.
Once Ferrari got their car sorted, Leclerc got back into his stride and produced some excellent performances over the remaining races. From a surprise pole position at Spa he finished third, a result he repeated at Zandvoort, both behind clearly quicker cars. At Monza he stunned the McLarens, pinching victory with an adroit switch to a single-stop strategy which sent the tifosi into raptures.
Oscar Piastri had revenge at Baku where he mugged Leclerc for the lead after their pit stops, but the Ferrari driver was on the podium again. Leclerc took his final win of the year in Austin, revelling in a rare day when an SF-24 was the chassis to have.
Leclerc continued to deliver strong results over the final races, even on occasions when qualifying did not go to plan. He rebounded from ninth to fifth in Singapore and took fifth again in the rain at Interlagos.
Sainz continued to give Leclerc headaches from time to time. In Mexico, Sainz was clearly the quicker of the two drivers, and Leclerc also lost to his team mate in a close fight in Las Vegas. But he ended the season with two more podium appearances: second in Qatar, and third in Abu Dhabi after a virtuoso drive from 19th on the grid.
That wasn’t quite enough to deliver the title for Ferrari, nor for Leclerc to overhaul Lando Norris and equal his best championship result. But it was unquestionably his best season-long performance to date.
RaceFans’ driver rankings are based partly on the scores awarded to drivers for their performances in each round as well as other factors.
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