Charles Marc Hervé Perceval Leclerc (French pronunciation: [ʃaʁl ləklɛʁ]; born 16 October 1997) is a Monégasque racing driver, who competes in Formula One for Ferrari.

Following five pole positions and six podiums in his 2023 campaign, Leclerc won the Monaco Grand Prix in 2024, becoming the first Monégasque driver to win the race in 93 years; he achieved further victories in Italy and the United States as he finished third in the championship.

[2] Outside of motor racing, Leclerc collaborated with pianist Sofiane Pamart on the extended play Dreamers (2024), which peaked at number two on the Billboard Classical Albums chart.

[23] During the season, he took seven podium positions, including a double victory at Monza,[24] to finish runner-up in the championship behind Koiranen GP's Nyck de Vries.

[28] At the opening round of the season in Silverstone, Leclerc inherited pole position for the second and third races of the weekend after original pole-sitter Felix Rosenqvist was excluded for a technical infringement.

[39] Following his GP3 title victory, Leclerc progressed to FIA Formula 2 with Prema for its inaugural 2017 season, alongside fellow Ferrari Driver Academy member Antonio Fuoco.

[41] In the reverse-grid sprint race,[c] he opted for a mid-race pit stop—an uncommon practise in sprints—after creating a nine-second lead; Leclerc proceeded to overtake 13 drivers in nine laps to secure his maiden F2 victory.

[45][46] Leclerc retired from both races at his home round in Monte Carlo after qualifying on pole, suffering suspension failure in the feature and collision damage with Norman Nato in the sprint.

[49] Leclerc dedicated his pole in Baku to his recently-deceased father Hervé,[8] before converting it to victory in the feature and second-place in the sprint, losing the win to Nato at the latter following a 10-second time penalty for ignoring yellow flags.

[53] Leclerc achieved a record-equalling sixth consecutive pole at Silverstone,[d] winning the feature amidst multiple reliability issues, including his brakes and exhaust setting on fire.

[56][57] He was disqualified from pole in Budapest for a technical infringement,[58] finishing fourth in the feature and sprint after starting the former in last-place, albeit behind title rival Rowland in both.

[64] Whilst battling for the lead of the Monza feature with Nyck de Vries, the pair collided on the final lap following a late-race safety car, condemning both drivers to finish outside the points.

[73][74][75] Leclerc was named FIA Rookie of the Year for his efforts in 2017,[76] achieving seven wins from 10 podiums and eight pole positions, finishing 72 points ahead of eventual runner-up Artem Markelov.

[97] At his first home Grand Prix in Monaco, Leclerc suffered a brake failure in the closing laps, colliding with the diffuser of Brendon Hartley into the Nouvelle Chicane and forcing his first career retirement.

[101] This run included three retirements: a loose wheel in Britain, suspension damage after colliding with Sergio Pérez in Hungary, and a multi-car collision in Belgium.

[105][106] Further points finishes came with ninth- and seventh-place at the Singapore and Russian Grands Prix, respectively,[107] before retirements from a mechanical failure in Japan and damage from a collision with Romain Grosjean in the United States.

[132][133] He took pole at the Austrian Grand Prix,[134] finishing second to Max Verstappen after his overtake on the antepenultimate lap, during which they made contact—the stewards' investigation deemed it a racing incident.

[169] Leclerc finished the season-ending Abu Dhabi Grand Prix in third-place,[170] clinching fourth in the World Drivers' Championship with 264 points, 24 ahead of teammate Vettel in fifth.

[198][199] At the Italian Grand Prix, he qualified thirteenth before colliding with a tyre barrier at the Curva Parabolica and causing a red flag whilst running in fourth.

[211] He ended the season eighth in the standings with two podiums and 98 points, 65 ahead of teammate Vettel in thirteenth,[211] as Ferrari finished sixth in the World Constructors' Championship—their lowest since 1980.

[229][230] At the British Grand Prix, Leclerc qualified fourth before inheriting the lead on the first lap: he overtook Bottas off-the-line before passing both Max Verstappen and Hamilton after their collision.

[237] He took grid penalties for the Russian Grand Prix, forcing him to start nineteenth; after climbing to third,[238] he was the last to pit for intermediate tyres in changing conditions, demoting him to fifteenth.

[citation needed] Leclerc qualified on pole position for the season-opening Bahrain Grand Prix,[250] before winning the race amidst a close battle with Max Verstappen, marking his and Ferrari's first victory since 2019.

[citation needed] In Spain, Leclerc took pole again and led the race with a 13-second margin until a power unit failure forced his retirement,[255] handing Verstappen the victory and championship lead.

[261] At the Hungarian Grand Prix, he qualified third and finished sixth after another strategic error by Ferrari put him on underperforming hard-compound tyres;[262] Verstappen won the race and extended his advantage over Leclerc to 80 points going into the summer break.

[citation needed] Leclerc qualified third for the Abu Dhabi Grand Prix behind Pérez, before overtaking him with a one-stop strategy and clinching second in the World Drivers' Championship.

[citation needed] Ferrari struggled for consistent race pace and tyre wear throughout the early stages of 2023, as Red Bull cemented their advantage from the previous year.

[314] Alex Kalinauckas of Autosport lauded his racecraft after the 2024 season, highlighting several instances of his defensive driving against faster machinery, as well as an overtake on George Russell at the Chinese Grand Prix.

[328] In April 2024, Leclerc launched an eponymous ice cream brand called LEC, a reference to his three-letter code on Formula One television graphics.

2005  N. Rosberg 2006  L. Hamilton 2007  T. Glock 2008  G. Pantano 2009  N. Hülkenberg 2010  P. Maldonado 2011  R. Grosjean 2012  D. Valsecchi 2013  F. Leimer 2014  J. Palmer 2015  S. Vandoorne 2016  P. Gasly 2017  C. Leclerc 2018  G. Russell 2019  N. de Vries 2020  M. Schumacher 2021  O. Piastri 2022  F. Drugovich 2023  T. Pourchaire 2024  G. Bortoleto