Charles Leclerc - will he ever become a world champion?
If you look at the "Formula 1 section", you'll find out that I've already written an article about the 27-year-old Monegasque, which was more like a "biography so far" kind of thing. Today, I prefer focusing more on the past 3 years, especially on Leclerc's future.
In the beginning, I would like to mention one fact - Charles Leclerc has been my favorite F1 driver since he came into Alfa Romeo in 2018. I have been overseeing his career progress in the last 6 years, and as many experts, I know what he is capable of. Charles even had a solid chance of winning the 2022 World Drivers Championship. Nonetheless, both himself and his team, Scuderia Ferrari, bottled the chances in many races (due to poor strategy decisions, the car's unreliability, and drivers' mistakes). In the end, he finished second in the chamionship with just three wins that season. In 2023, he finished fifth in the standings without a single win and just with a few podium finishes. However, the 2024 season is looking much better for him. Despite not having the fastest car (excluding the last few races), he is nestled third in the championship with three wins from Monaco, Monza, and the US Grand Prix. At the moment, Leclerc is trailing Max Verstappen by 70 points and leading his teammate, Carlos Sainz, by 50 points (nonetheless, Sainz had to omit the Saudi Arabian GP at the start of a season due to the removal of an appendix).
To closely display this season - it's one of the most competitive seasons in F1 history in terms of race winners. Regardless of the relative consistency of Max Verstappen and Lando Norris, a total amount of 7 drivers won a race, and apart from George Russell, every driver won two or more races. With four races to go, Leclerc has a miserably little chance of winning the Drivers Championship, nonetheless, together with Carlos Sainz, they might win the Constructors Championship for Ferrari thanks to the slowness of Checo Peréz from Red Bull and bad strategy decisions from McLaren.
Nevertheless, the real question is - can Leclerc ever win the Drivers Championship by himself?
Answering this kind of question is sophisticated. In my opinion, it is a matter of a car. Regardless of Charles being one of the fastest and most consistent drivers on the grid, he would have a worthy opponent against himself - Max Verstappen. To illustrate the situation, Verstappen became an unstoppable driver due to the 2021 season, when he defeated the 7-time world champion - Lewis Hamilton. He showed proficiency in the 2023 season, winning 20 Grand Prix out of 23 possibilities. Ferrari and Leclerc showed a nice momentum at the beginning of the 2022 season, but since then, they disappeared from the top of the leaderboard. I suppose that they might have a chance in the future if Charles becomes a bit cooler under the pressure. We must remember, for example, his mistake from France in 2022, when he crashed into barriers while being under enormous pressure - which is the critical difference between Verstappen and Leclerc. However, Charles showed in Brazil 24 that he can challenge Max in wet conditions, which suits Max so well. Additionally, he is disciplined apart from Lando Norris, who fought Verstappen this year, and honestly, he cried most of the time on the team radio or in the media center.
In conclusion - the thing is, you can't beat Max with the same car right now, thanks to the abilities he got from his previous career. But if there will be a chance shortly, it's gonna be the next year. Brazil was more about talent than the car, and Max crushed everyone there, nevertheless, after the transfer of Adrian Newey, the main Red Bull Racing engineer, to Aston Martin, they might struggle. And if there is anyone to take the chance of winning the world title, it is Charles Leclerc.
Jakub Ondruš