#16 · Ferrari
Charles Leclerc
Ferrari's hometown talisman. More poles than wins, which is a very Ferrari sentence.
Ferrari's lead driver since 2019. The most natural one-lap qualifier on the current grid; pole positions in the high twenties, mostly extracted from cars that did not deserve them.
Why he matters
Leclerc came up through the Ferrari Driver Academy, won F2 on his first attempt in 2017, and was promoted to Ferrari for 2019 over Daniel Ricciardo. He has been the team’s lead driver ever since. The narrative around him is brutal: enormous talent, particularly in qualifying, paired with seasons of strategic missteps and reliability failures from the team, including a heartbreak win-from-pole at his home Monaco GP that finally arrived in 2024 after years of misfortune.
How he drives
In qualifying he is unmatched on a single lap. In races he’s harder on tyres than Sainz or Hamilton, and his radio messages when frustrated are some of the most quoted in F1: “Mamma mia, ragazzi” being a recurring complaint when strategy goes wrong.
Watch for
- Saturday qualifying, especially at street circuits. He is consistently fastest in Sectors 2 and 3.
- His battles with Lewis Hamilton, his teammate since 2025: the most intense intra-team rivalry on the grid.
- Monaco. Winning there in 2024 was the largest emotional moment of his career so far.
Career receipts
Through the 2026 season
9
Race wins
45
Podiums
27
Pole positions
0
Championships
Last race
Decoder breakdown of the most recent round