Charles Leclerc remembers father, Bianchi at Monaco
When Charles Leclerc races for the first time at the Monaco Grand Prix tomorrow, he will carry with him the memories of his father and his close friend Jules Bianchi.
The 20-year-old Leclerc will become the first driver from Monaco to race on the famed track since Olivier Beretta in 1994.
“I have been waiting for this moment since I was a child,” Leclerc said.
He knows the track’s sinewy streets off by heart, walking along them countless times growing up in the tiny Principality. As a small boy, he watched his first Monaco GP in an apartment overlooking the famed first turn at Sainte-Devote.
“I was four years old,” he said. “I was dreaming one day of being part of it and this day has finally happened.”
It’s hard to be more Monegasque than Leclerc.
His apartment is near the race start-finish line. As a youth, he swam in the swimming pool next to the glittering harbour, the focal point of the track. The harbour showcases the most spectacular yachts on the French Riviera — and therefore in the world. When he was 12, Leclerc met Prince Albert in the imposing royal palace, perched on a hill and towering over the harbour’s inviting waters.
Leclerc is tipped to go far, held in the highest regard by four-time Formula One (F1) champion Sebastian Vettel.
After joining the prestigious Ferrari academy in 2016, Leclerc won the GP3 title at the first attempt. Ditto last year, when he clinched the Formula Two title. It fasttracked him into F1 with Sauber, which uses Ferrari engines. Leclerc finished an impressive sixth at the Azerbaijan GP last month.
“I think the hype is absolutely justified. If there’s no hype around him, then I don’t understand who should be hyped,” Vettel said of Leclerc. “Because (if) you walk through all the categories like that, then you belong here.”