Charles Leclerc

[Supersam83]

Surprised to find he doesn't have his own dedicated forum thread.

Charles Leclerc
Age 28 (16.10.1997)

Race starts: 169 (167 starts)
Wins: 8
Podiums: 50
Pole Positions: 27
Fastest Laps: 10


Anyway the news is off topic and the fact that he has become engaged to his long time girlfriend Alexandra Saint Mleux:

https://www.motorsport.com/f1/news/charles-leclerc...

Congrats to him.

[thegreenhell]

That must be the worst pole position to race win conversion ratio in history.

[geeks]

Surprised by that, deffo one of the best over one lap and his wheel to wheel stuff is pretty decent too. Likeable in the media as well from what I have seen, seems a decent chap.

[Supersam83]

thegreenhell said:

That must be the worst pole position to race win conversion ratio in history.

Yes and also most Pole Positions without winning the F1 drivers title as well.

He has 24 drivers below him in the Pole Position list who have won the F1 drivers title!

[Siao]

thegreenhell said:

That must be the worst pole position to race win conversion ratio in history.

There should be a "oh, he's driving for Ferrari" factor or something though.

[Mike230]

I can't help but feel that Charles will be a modern day Alesi.

[Blib]

Mike230 said:

I can't help but feel that Charles will be a modern day Alesi.

I get where you're coming from with the sentiment behind your comment.

I'd suggest that LeClerc is a far better driver. He's already won far more poles than Alesi and has also more wins.

I agree that he may not get a chance to really challenge for a title.

[ralphrj]

thegreenhell said:

That must be the worst pole position to race win conversion ratio in history.

I think Chris Amon still holds that honour with zero wins from 5 poles.

Leclerc suffers from being arguably the greatest of the current era over a single lap but rarely being in the best car for a grand prix distance.

[HTP99]

ralphrj said:

thegreenhell said:

That must be the worst pole position to race win conversion ratio in history.

I think Chris Amon still holds that honour with zero wins from 5 poles.

Leclerc suffers from being arguably the greatest of the current era over a single lap but rarely being in the best car for a grand prix distance.

He also is prone to making silly mistakes.

[Jayho]

HTP99 said:

ralphrj said:

thegreenhell said:

That must be the worst pole position to race win conversion ratio in history.

I think Chris Amon still holds that honour with zero wins from 5 poles.

Leclerc suffers from being arguably the greatest of the current era over a single lap but rarely being in the best car for a grand prix distance.

He also is prone to making silly mistakes.

That's the most frustrating thing about him. He has the ability to have perfect races, but somehow he can be his own worst enemy. Coupled with the fact that he's not always the most assertive to his team allows them to dictate things which don't necessarily work in his favour.

Probably one of the very few drivers on the grid who I think can beat Max given the same machinery and same opportunities. I believe he's a stronger qualifier, so all he would need to do is shove the car on pole and make sure he gets the first corner before sailing off to the sunset.

[......]

ralphrj said:

I think Chris Amon still holds that honour with zero wins from 5 poles.

Leclerc suffers from being arguably the greatest of the current era over a single lap but rarely being in the best car for a grand prix distance.

To be fair to Amon, he had a number of non-championship F1 wins and won Le Mans and Daytona, and if we consider what could have been, then he missed a couple of chances to win through mechanical failures.

Leclerc...

I like him. But he does have a very strong tendency to end up missing out... I'm sure his luck will come good in time.

[ChocolateFrog]

HTP99 said:

ralphrj said:

thegreenhell said:

That must be the worst pole position to race win conversion ratio in history.

I think Chris Amon still holds that honour with zero wins from 5 poles.

Leclerc suffers from being arguably the greatest of the current era over a single lap but rarely being in the best car for a grand prix distance.

He also is prone to making silly mistakes.

Yep, too many unforced errors. Will be surprised if he becomes a WDC when there's the likes of Verstappen around not to mention a host of other drivers who make few mistakes.

[ralphrj]

...... said:

To be fair to Amon, he had a number of non-championship F1 wins and won Le Mans and Daytona, and if we consider what could have been, then he missed a couple of chances to win through mechanical failures.

Amon's bad luck is fairly legendary - he was leading the Italian GP at Monza in '71 and removed his last tear-off strip only to have the entire visor come off with it...

[oyster]

If the Ferrari is a contender next season then he has a great chance. On current form, he’s unlikely to lose over a whole season to his teammate.

[Derek Smith]

ralphrj said:

...... said:

To be fair to Amon, he had a number of non-championship F1 wins and won Le Mans and Daytona, and if we consider what could have been, then he missed a couple of chances to win through mechanical failures.

Amon's bad luck is fairly legendary - he was leading the Italian GP at Monza in '71 and removed his last tear-off strip only to have the entire visor come off with it...

Peter Gethin won that at the then fastest speed for a GP, and the closest finish. The final lap was a belter. I thank Amon for his sacrifice.

CLC seems to be a pleasant chap but I agree he seems to make unforced errors when it matters most. With a few excellent performances under his belt he might improve. I felt gutted for him at Bahrain in 2019. The only good aspect was he finished on the podium after that bloke who used to be vital to RB, then was sacked from the team, and their performance improved no end, told Verstappen he had plenty of time to overtake CLC. Renault held a different opinion. Had CLC won, I wonder what it might have done for his confidence and performance.

[bergclimber34]

You cannot compare Leclerc to Alesi or Amon for goodness sake, Chris never won a proper GP he won just about everything else, and Jean threw about three away, only winning one. Charles has won 8!!!

He is infinitely better than Brundle or Warwick were in their day and they were unlucky to not win races.

Yet people like Maldonado, Brambilla, Jochen Mass have, you would never say they were peak F1 drivers in any era, but they have a win, lucks plays a part at times. and it certainly did back in the day.

[Smollet]

HTP99 said:

ralphrj said:

thegreenhell said:

That must be the worst pole position to race win conversion ratio in history.

I think Chris Amon still holds that honour with zero wins from 5 poles.

Leclerc suffers from being arguably the greatest of the current era over a single lap but rarely being in the best car for a grand prix distance.

He also is prone to making silly mistakes.

Signing for Ferrari being one of them

[jules_s]

Meh,

The lazy sod even got his dog to do the hard work (proposing)

[acer12]

While I dont think he is one of the greats his biggest weakness is being in the wrong car and team (both come with their own set of failings), however if you look at his results this season he has 7 podiums and firmly in control of 5th spot driving a bit of a dog of a car. In reality staying long term with such a team probably impacts ambition and hunger, you could say he is wasting away at Ferrari.

Plenty of weaker (and lots of great) drivers have been lucky and won championships by being in the right car at the right time.

[Smollet]

acer12 said:

While I dont think he is one of the greats his biggest weakness is being in the wrong car and team (both come with their own set of failings), however if you look at his results this season he has 7 podiums and firmly in control of 5th spot driving a bit of a dog of a car. In reality staying long term with such a team probably impacts ambition and hunger, you could say he is wasting away at Ferrari.

Plenty of weaker (and lots of great) drivers have been lucky and won championships by being in the right car at the right time.

Derek Warwick was another. Extremely capable and very underrated yet managed to be in the wrong car at the wrong time