Charles Leclerc: Full Faith In Ferrari | F1 Beyond The Grid Podcast

I feel that when I've had good moments in my career, things are escalating very quickly towards winning the title and everything is exponentially positive and too positive. But when things go wrong, it goes the same the other way. Everything was negative around me, around the team. And again, to be working in this environment is difficult. And then we get to Silverstone. Tough times never last. Only tough people left. I would say I couldn't come at a better time. Why did now feel like the right time to commit longer term to Ferrari? For me, this is where I belong for now. I don't want to give up on my ultimate goal, which is to become a world champion with Ferrari. Can we hype up a championship battle now, right? Do you think you've got the equipment to challenge Mercedes? This championship will be won with upgrades. Welcome, everybody, to this week's F1 Beyond the Grid. And I'm delighted to say we're joined by Charles Leclerc. Charles, how are you? You're looking well. I'm very good, thank you. Yeah, feeling good. Now, it's been a couple of years since you were last on the show. And I think it's fair to say quite a lot has happened in your life in that time. Would you agree? I do, yes. Whether personal or on track, quite a few things happened since then. Well, look, let's start on track. We're going to Monza this week. How mental a week is this one? What is it like to be a Ferrari driver at the Italian Grand Prix? It's very, very special. I mean, it's normally a race weekend for us, which resumes itself from the Thursday to the Sunday. Monza is very different because it starts from the Monday with some sponsors' activities, Tuesday as well, Wednesday we normally go in Milan for a meeting with the Tifosi. And this is pure madness. And you can feel that it's not a race like any other. The feeling going into the weekend is incredible. There's so much positivity around the team and so much excitement as well. So the build-up to the race is very, very, very different. I will say that the energy is so positive that you don't actually feel how much it's tiring. But I remember the very first Monza I did with the team, which I was lucky enough to win. I arrived on the Sunday night and didn't realise how tired I was. But I think the positive energy keeps you energised. But once the pressure is off after the race, then it's very, very tiring. Is it possible to feel more loved as a racing driver than being a Ferrari driver at Monza? Oh, I don't think so. I don't think so. It's a very, very special experience. I stay in this hotel close to the track as well, where all the Tifosi are coming to every night and every morning to sing. I remember I've had quite a few years where on the Saturday night they will sing Tifosi songs at 11, 11.30. So you go to sleep and you cannot think about anything else other than racing and racing for Ferrari. And it's very special because you can also feel how much it means to every single person that comes to the race. And it's also probably one of the only races of the calendar where you can feel that within the team, there's this kind of, it's a positive thing, but this kind of adrenaline pressure for that home race. Because most of their family members will be in the grandstand or will be there to see them. So it means something special, not only for us drivers, but I think for everybody. You've talked about how special it is. When you think back to 2019 and the win from Pol, did you appreciate at the time what you'd just done? Or had it come almost too early in your career for you to appreciate the magnitude of what you'd just done? I think I realized, but it's not like you, it's not like I thought about it for so long. I remember on the Monday coming back home, I got stopped by the police on the motorway. And they had this newspaper where I was the first of the newspaper where they wanted me to sign it. And I was like, oh, that's really cool. It was the first time that this will ever happen to me in my life. And then when I stopped making fuel, I went to pay into the shop and there was all this newspaper. And I was on the first of many of those. So there, of course, you realize this is not normal. And it was probably the first time of my life that I will see that. And that was very, very special. But then very quickly, you're always attracted to look ahead and to think about the next one. But it was a very special moment. And there's another layer of sort of history this weekend, isn't there? Because you're running the sort of Michael Schumacher livery from 1996. And I did want to ask you about Michael, right? He's still so loved inside the team. What does Schumacher mean to you? Michael, obviously, is very special. I've started watching Formula One when Michael was winning basically everything with Ferrari. I started dreaming of becoming a Ferrari driver when I was seeing Michael win with them. And so he plays a very important role into making me dream of becoming a Ferrari driver, just because he was the iconic driver for so many years with this iconic team. But I think Michael, it's also a generation where it's not so far that people who have worked with him cannot really explain what he was like. So there's very much this feeling inside the team that it was not so long ago. And when you speak to the mechanics engineers that are still in the team for some of them that have worked with him, how special it was to see him, everything he has brought to the team. Because back then, meetings were not such a thing yet. And he arrived with such a discipline. He was, yes, the most talented, but also the most hard worker and structural driver there was. And all this structure and discipline, I think, made everyone step up their game after Michael. So he played, obviously, an incredibly important role in Ferrari. But also for me, it was very, very special to see him. I also had the chance to meet him. I was in Paul Ricard and there's a karting track and a Formula One track and we had no idea that Ferrari would be testing that day. And I had never asked an autograph to anybody else. But that day, I remember hearing the sound of the Formula One engine and we went to the track. We were lucky enough to be let in and I asked Michael to sign my suit. I still have that picture, actually. And this was a very, very special moment. What you've just said reminds me of something your former Ferrari boss, Mattia Bonotto, told me. He said, Michael was a brilliant racing driver, obviously, but he was an even better leader. Is how Mattia described it. And that's kind of what you've just implied, right? Oh, 100%. I think the leadership of Michael, every single person within the team was cheering and was behind Michael for him to win. And that is when Formula One is getting very big, and it was already big back then, where there are many people inside a team and every single person needs to believe in the project, needs to believe in the driver, needs to be behind the driver. And I think Michael did that better than anyone else. I mean, you're going to surpass him next year as Ferrari's most races for any driver. I mean, if you had told me that 15 years ago, I would have never believed you, of course. I mean, Formula One was already a dream that was for me, not unachievable, but very unlikely to achieve. I mean, it's only the top 20 drivers in the world. And my parents were always very honest with me to tell me, OK, we are going to try and do our best to help you, but it's very unlikely that this happens. And on top of that, to become a Ferrari driver once in your career, even for a year or one race, will have been incredible. And now to be the driver that, or I will be hopefully the driver that will do the most races with Ferrari is very special. At the same time, now that I'm in the position that I am in now, this is not really a start that... I mean, at the end, the start that will make me happy is to be the driver who won the most with the team. And this is not the case. So there's still a lot of work. I feel like we are doing progresses. But it's been many years with the team, some very good years, some very difficult years. I think we grew a lot all together. And also me, I arrived in the team, I was a kid, and now I feel like I have more experience behind me. But yeah, the fact to have done the most races is maybe not the start that is the most important for me. I want to be winning. And that's what Michael is known for. He's for having done such a difference for the years he's done with the team. How do you see the role of a racing driver in Formula One? Is it more than just what happens in the cockpit? Of course, 100%. And I also believe that maybe in Ferrari, it's even more so that way, because Ferrari in Italy is so important that when you become a Ferrari driver, obviously, people really look up at you. And the new people inside the team were looking at me with eyes that you can see how much it means for the people back at the factory sometimes to speak with you and to make sure that you create that relationship is incredibly important. But I was lucky enough also to join the team so young and to be able to know these people for many, many years. The bond is very, very special. And then to be working with those people for so many years, you get to know them and it's easier to extract the maximum out of every single person. 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Visit Bitdefender.com to learn more about how Bitdefender supports Ferrari through cybersecurity built on trust and how you can make your digital life safer. Well, let's talk about the new deal then, which was announced just before the Monaco Grand Prix this year. Why did now feel like the right time to commit longer term to Ferrari? Well, first of all, because it just felt right. And that sometimes doesn't need more explanation in a way that for me, this is where I belong for now. And this is where I feel good. This is where I am the most motivated to do well, just because I love this team so much. It's been many years since I've joined Ferrari, the Formula One team since 2019, but I've been within the Ferrari family for even longer. And I don't want to give up on my ultimate goal, which is to become a world champion with Ferrari. And I believe in the project. I believe in every single person of the team. I think we are in a year where we've been showing innovation. We are very aggressive also in the production plan and in the upgrades we are bringing. And that gives me lots of hopes for the future. And Fred is a big reason on why I have signed again as well. I believe in Fred 200 percent. And we've known each other for many years now. And to be able to work with him in the team I've always loved is a privilege. So yeah, for me, I had no doubt that this was the right decision for me. Fred has spoken about the deep bond he has with you. Clearly, the feeling is mutual, right? Well, of course. Yeah, it would be very strange if he had said that it wasn't mutual. But yeah, I mean, it feels like I know Fred since forever. And he's the kind of person that you speak once. And I don't know, I think it's the values. There's just something that was naturally working from the beginning. And you cannot quite explain that. But from the very first talks, it felt like I've known him forever. And so obviously the bond is stronger than just a work business relationship. Is it almost paternal? Yeah, I think in some kind of ways. He reminds me of my father in some aspect of who he is. And there might be that. Then, of course, you've got to separate as well, because sometimes we speak about business. And it's about business. We're here to win. But I'll say when things goes very well, yeah, the emotions are multiplicated. What do you think your old man would have made of you committing long term to Ferrari? Do you ever seek? I don't know. Do you look up to the sky and seek inspiration? Wonder what he would be thinking? I mean, I know him by heart. He's been with me since I did my first laps in karting to unfortunately when he left this world. But so I know exactly what he will be thinking. I think we were very alike in the way we will think. So he will be happy. I mean, my parents did everything to see me and my brothers happy. So whatever made me happy will have made him happy. And so I have little doubt that from there he's smiling. Given everything you've just said, did you negotiate with other teams? How seriously did you think about a life outside of the red team for that? I think I'm also lucky to be in the position where I've got my manager and my manager is here to let me know about what are the other opportunities, what's going on around. And so I didn't have any personal talks, but but my manager did. I mean, it's it's his job to to be honest with me and to give me the full picture of what's going on in the paddock and and what opportunities we might have. So. So, yes, there were other opportunities. But at the end of the day, we we sat down with with Ferrari and we made it happen quite quickly. Do you like the paddock politics? Do you like that side of Formula One, navigating the potholes of the paddock? No, I mean, it doesn't really interest me. It's I try to be just myself and as genuine as I can be. And if that hurts me in any kind of relationships, I won't force things. This is the way I've always been. I've always hated to be the guy that needs to be nice for whatever reason. This is not me and I will never change. So. So, no, but yeah, I don't feel I have any enemies in the paddock. So it hasn't hurt me. And would you ever be interested in in managing younger drivers? I'm thinking of, you know, Max Verstappen recently said he's helping a young Dutch guy, Dries Van Langendonck. Could we see you take that step one day? One day, 100 percent. And I spoke about it with my manager, actually, Nicolas, who does this himself, whether it will be interesting to do that together once I'm done. But I don't see it right now. At the moment, I'm 200 percent focused on racing and on my driving and on trying to make Ferrari win. When I'll turn the page, I most likely will stay around to do just that. OK, look, let's talk about 2026 now. You've ticked off all of the big race wins in your career already. We're talking Monaco, we're talking Monza, we're talking Spa. And then, of course, Silverstone came just before the summer break. How important was that win? It was a very important one because it came into a moment of the season where there were lots of negativity around. And when it's like this, it's always more difficult to perform. I think many drivers are trying to hide or deny the fact that you are not affected or that you are completely isolated from the noise around, but you cannot be. In those very difficult moments, I had no social media on my phone. I didn't want to hear about anything. The only thing I wanted to care about was the performance in the car, my feeling in the car, trying to improve that. We've had some issues on the car, which we were trying to solve, which we did then. But in that difficult moment, there's a lot of doubts. There are lots of questions raised and you cannot stay completely isolated to it. For the good reason that when you go on the Thursday and you do Media Day, the questions are not always the positive and nice ones that you want to hear. There's of course negativity and it's right that it's that way. People question and want to understand why there are struggles. But as a driver, that's the last thing you want to speak of. It was tricky to be working in that environment, but I think we did an incredible job. It started in Canada, where it's a track where I always struggle. I've been struggling for the weekend and then you get to Monaco. I had the hope that Monaco has always been a special track for me. Of course, I'm from there, but it's always been a track where I've been very competitive. There, the feeling was not good at all from FP1 until the race. Then we have this issue in the race, which cost us a DNF, which is another difficult one. Then you go to Barcelona and you hope for a better weekend. The feeling was much better in Barcelona in FP1. Then I get to Qualy and I do this mistake, which was quite a big one, which is another one. Then on the Sunday, we have an issue, so we don't score any points. These were three very difficult weekends. I feel that when I've had good moments in my career, things are escalating very quickly towards winning the title. Everything is exponentially positive and too positive. But when things go wrong, it goes the same the other way. Everything was negative around me, around the team. Again, to be working in this environment is difficult. Then we get to Silverstone, where it's a track that I love, but I didn't really know what to expect. On paper, actually, there was a lot of negativity because Silverstone and Spa were going to be the two most difficult race weekends of the first part of the season. I was like, OK, my God, this is not a great timing for me. Then we go in FP1 and the feeling is as good as it was in Barcelona in Free Practices. Then things just unfolded quite naturally. Then we win the race. It was surprising for the negativity around me, but also for the negativity around the team for that particular track layout. I would say it couldn't come at a better time. It felt extremely good because when you've been working for so long to try and turn a situation around... We're speaking about three races, but between races there are gaps. At the end, it's a month. A month of struggling is something that is not a good feeling. Were those three races, was that month the hardest month of your career, would you say? The last struggling moments always felt like the hardest ones for whatever reason because it's where the emotions are still the most raw. I can still remember that moment. Honestly, doing a step back, I don't think so. I don't think so. Surely, it's the one that took propulsions bigger than others, but I don't even know actually if that's right. Michel, when you jump out of the car and use the word ashamed to describe something you've just done... I appreciate that's heat of the moment, but when you use a word like that on our side of the fence, when we report that, you can sort of see how it spirals, right? Yeah, but I don't fully agree. In a way, when you do a mistake as a driver, you're not happy. If I put the car on the wall, if anybody put the car on the wall, they kind of feel shame in some kind of way. Then whether you want to express it or not is another thing. On that, I am sometimes too honest on the way I feel, on the way I portray my performances. It means that sometimes I get the backlash for saying things that maybe I should have kept for me. But at the same time, this is me. Again, I'm very happy to just stay the person I am. Sometimes it will bite me more than I would want. And some people will like me for that characteristic. I don't want to force things, to think too much about what I'm going to say. I just want to be myself. And at that moment, I just felt that way. I think you and Louis are very similar like that. Do you remember last year when Louis was talking after one qualifying, he said the team need to change the driver. You two are very, very passionate. Exactly. That's what I was going to say. I think passion is what eventually comes down to. We are all super passionate about what we do. And we love so much what we do that it's so important for us to be performing. And when things don't go well on track, things don't go well as well at home, in a way that you come back home and you just want to get back on track and for things on track to go well. Because it takes a toll on you because you are so passionate and we live for racing. My life can be resumed with racing. I started when I was three and a half years old and I'm still racing to this day. And I've probably spent more time on a racing track since I'm born than at home. Racing is everything I have. And so when it goes well, it's incredible. But when things go wrong, you take it personal in a way. Tell us about the journey you've been on with this car because at the start of the year, I mean, let's go back to testing. It all went very well. We then go to Melbourne and you're on the podium. Where did it go wrong, if you like, for that bad month? Was it something you'd done from a setup point of view or was it something else? It was something else. I mean, Formula One, it can be sometimes... You cannot share absolutely everything. There are things that are a bit more secret. But let's say that from Montreal to... I did Montreal, I did Monaco. Montreal and Monaco were probably the two ones that there was something that was extremely difficult to deal with on the car. And then for Barcelona, it was better. And Barcelona, of course, I mean, in qualifying, I have no excuses. That's just me pushing the limit too much and too far. But I will say there are these two races that have been particularly difficult. And you were quite secretive at Silverstone about what you'd found on the car overnight, Friday night. You're not about to open up now, I guess. But can you just tell us, was it a setup thing or was it a driving technique? No, so that's the thing. When things don't go well, like it did in Montreal and Monaco, where you just... It's not only about the results. Like in Barcelona, of course, I was disappointed, but the feeling was there. So when the feeling is there, you are a lot more confident as a driver. But Montreal and Monaco, the feeling was really not there. Like whatever the result I will have done on the Sunday, I didn't really care about this. What's important for me is that when I get into the car, I get the right feeling. And I know that I can do my job properly by driving just naturally and not overthinking things. And so when you've got two races consecutive where things are getting tough and you don't have the feeling, you've got two options, really. One is to try and find a way around with the setup and with the car and trying to fit your natural driving style more. The other is just change your driving style. And in my case, I have Louis as a teammate who was having an incredible form and who is on an incredible form. So I knew that his driving style was working. Surely it was working. So I still had that option on trying. I push on the word trying because it's always difficult to try and reproduce a driving style. It's not as easy as, oh, Louis is doing that, I'll just do the same. Louis is an incredibly talented driver and has a natural driving style. That is his and he's the best in the world for that particular driving style. And so to reproduce that is very tricky. So I tried to push more into trying to find ways to have this car a bit more fitted to my driving style. And I found a few things in the data that was just not working. And again, in Formula One, it's not always black and white. It's not like you sit in front of your computer, look at the data and say, oh, this is one tenth and a half of a second. Let's change that and we'll gain one tenth. It's not as easy as that. It's intuition. It's feeling. It's things that you might think, OK, this is what makes me a bit less comfortable in the car. And if I improve that feeling, then performance will come. And so I saw two, three things on the Friday night in Silverstone. Changed those for the Saturday in qualifying. And the feeling was a lot better and even better than it was in Barcelona. And from that moment, I felt it went towards the right direction. More back to how it was at the start of the season? Or had the car changed too much to get that same feeling as you had in Melbourne, for example? The car is constantly changing. So it's not like I can really go back to that feeling I had in Melbourne. So it's evolving. But my goal is to get into the car and not overthink. When you overthink, you know that you are losing time on the table because our sport is not a lot about reacting on what's happening on the car. It's more about anticipating and feeling the car yours. I mean, getting into a corner, I need to know exactly the way the car will behave so I don't have to overthink about things. Andreas Stella at McLaren gave us a great quote last year. He said, you don't have time to think in these cars for a driver. You have to just do what comes naturally, right? I 100% agree. I think overthinking is killing performance. When things come naturally, that's where I think the flow state that we speak about racing drivers or athletes as well. And Brad Pitt as well. Oh, did he say that? He's a real driver now. And the flow state, when things just flow naturally, is really where you use 100% of your potential. When you've got to overthink things, that's where it becomes trickier. So look, with this car, the car post Silverstone, can we hype up a championship battle now, right? Do you think you've got the equipment to challenge Mercedes regularly in the second half of the year? It's very difficult to predict. And it's not something I really want to put energy towards thinking about too much at the end of the day. Because this championship will be won with upgrades. The upgrades are so powerful with these cars. We've got a lot less downforce than we used to in the past. So every point of downforce you add to this car has got a much bigger influence on how the car feels like on track. And so the packing order can change so quickly one way or another. So I'm very much focused race by race and not really thinking about the long-term picture, about how, if we've got a real shot with that championship. But, I mean, surely until it's not finished, I'll keep believing in it and we'll see how it goes. Brilliant. Well, can we just talk off-track briefly? Because obviously, huge news in the Leclerc household with your marriage to Alex. Does she help you be a better racing driver? Of course. I mean, she helps me become a better person, most of all. I don't think Alex's tips on driving will be good enough. I mean, I never brought her to the track just yet. We never went to a karting... Did we, actually? Maybe once. Maybe once. But she has that crazy side, which can be dangerous on a racetrack. But she's a very good driver, actually. But probably not good enough for her tips to be taken to the track just yet. How does it feel to call her your wife rather than just your girlfriend? I mean, we are over the moon, obviously. I mean, we love each other and we are super happy to get married officially. And this is a big step in everybody's life. So it's been very special for both of us. And that day was particularly special as well because we managed to keep it private on that actual day with only our close ones and it was a very special moment. To call her my wife still feels... I mean, it's early still. It's still the first few months of being married. And so to call her my wife sometimes feels strange because we are both very young. But I'm very proud to be calling her my wife. I mean, again, I'm very lucky to have such a wonderful woman next to me. And as I was saying, she makes me a better person. And we know each other so well. And it's so important as well because Formula 1, we've got so many races. We travel all around the world. And to have very good foundations is very important. And my family, my wife Alexandra, my friends, this is what's most important. Because when things go well and when things go wrong in Formula 1, people change very quickly and don't always want the best for you. Whereas I know that the people around me absolutely want the best for me and will always be very honest with me. And that's extremely important for me. Can you remember how you felt when you saw her walking down the aisle towards you in her wedding dress? Oh, yes, of course I did. I mean, it was very, very, very, very special. I remember being quite sure that I'm normally pretty good at keeping my emotions for myself, in those moments at least. I didn't manage to do that that day. It all came flooding out, right? Exactly. But yeah, it was a very, very nice day. Do you share the same hobbies, like music? We love music. Alex is starting to learn the piano, actually. So yeah, we do. Paddle, we love. But Alex is very creative. She loves fashion in general. She loves design. And I really love design as well. So yes, we do share the same hobbies. And she has a ceiling fetish. Is that right? She likes looking at ceilings? Paintings, murals, that kind of thing? Oh, not any kind of ceilings. She wouldn't be sat there watching the ceiling. I'm actually quoting her. Okay. I wasn't aware about this hobby. I mean, when we go to museums, we love art as well. And when we go to museums, yes, she loves nice ceilings. But if she doesn't like any kind of ceiling, that would be a very weird hobby. And of course, Leo the dog is a huge part of your lives as well, isn't he? Of course, of course. I mean, he's everything for us. He's our first son. He's part of the family. And since the very first day he arrived in the family, he's been treated like a human for the very first day. But as it should be. I mean, dogs and animals are just the best. Whatever day I have, whether it's a good day at work or a bad day at work, Leo is just the same. He has no idea about what's going on, what I do for a living. Feed me, take me for a walk. Exactly, and play with me. And that's the only thing that Leo wants, really. But he's a funny dog, but such an incredible dog. We love him and he makes our life and ourselves so, so happy. But yeah, it's just funny to see him in some moments where he has no idea what's going on. But now he's at ease in kind of every situation. Because we bring him everywhere with us, everywhere since he's a little baby. I actually speak of him like a human. Just like he was a puppy, we would bring him anywhere. And sometimes we'll be like, okay, maybe that's not good for him. But actually, that's the best choice we've done. Because then, now that he is an adult, anywhere we bring him, he's just at ease. Does he need a passport? Yes. He has a passport. Yeah, we've got to do all the checks and everything for him to be able to travel. But yeah, he's happy with us and he loves traveling. I remember in Silverstone, I opened the window and I started waving on the way out of the track to the fans that were waiting for the four-wheel drivers. And there was some cheering. And then Leo went up just to put his head on top and the cheering went crazy, like crazy. And he loved it. He was really happy about it. Charlotte, it's been so brilliant to have you back on the show. Thank you. And it feels, A, you're very happy. And B, you've got all your ducks in a row. And just the championship next, right? Just the championship next. I'm a very happy person in general. But yeah, the championship is something that I will dream of taking off one day. And particularly with the red team. This has been a dream of mine since many years. But I feel we are getting closer. When will that be? I don't know. I hope as early as it can be. Good luck. Thanks for your time. Thank you.