ENTER THE NEXT LECLERC
CHARLES LECLERC LIT UP THE lower levels of single-seater racing on his way to Formula 1, and now his younger brother Arthur is set to try to follow in his footsteps.
The younger Leclerc will make the step up from karting this year, competing in the French Formula 4
Championship, which runs over a seven-event calendar that gets under way at Nogaro in March. But the latest Leclerc to make his car-racing debut – the brothers’ late father Herve raced in Formula 3 in the late 1980s – has not had an easy ride in his career so far.
“We’ve never really had the money to keep him going during all his career, so he stopped for four years and then we found the budget this year to bring him to Formula 4,” explains Charles.
“So, it’s not the normal path that everyone does because no-one stops one year, or it’s quite exceptional when a driver stops one year and restarts his career, especially when they are that young.”
Charles has found the formula to make it to the top of the single-seater ladder, but although he’s happy to offer advice when called upon, he wants his brother to find his own recipe for success.
“Yeah,” he says when asked if he has been helping with his sibling’s preparations for the year ahead. “But on the other side I prefer to stay a little off. I think it’s also good that he learns from himself, [but] the errors I’ve done in my career before – small things that I can help him with – I always do. Then once he’s on-track and with the engineers I prefer to stay off, watch him and that’s it. Obviously if I see one thing that is completely wrong, then I will go to see him, but until now I haven’t helped so much.”
So how does Sauber’s new recruit rate his brother’s chances this year? “It’s going to be quite hard,” says the
elder Leclerc. “But looking at the tests, I think everyone has been very impressed. [With the] small time he has had in the car or in karting, coming straight away to formula racing I think was great.
“That’s why we pushed to try to find people that were helping him, and it’s great to see him there. Now he will have to work a lot to have a good year, but I’m pretty sure he has the capacity to do that – he just needs to work the right way and focus on himself and everything will be fine.”