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Charles Leclerc is one of the most popular drivers on the Formula 1 grid currently. Racing with Ferrari, he was the championship contender in the 2022 season, and his success with the team has been immense.
What adds to Leclerc's life story is the fact that he is the godson of Jules Bianchi, who was a talented Formula 1 driver. According to former IndyCar driver Max Chilton, it is quite easy to look for similarities between the two. Chilton stated that Leclerc's personality and driving style is very similar to Bianchi's. He was quoted as saying by F1:
"The weird thing for me is I’ve never met Charles Leclerc, and he suddenly came on the scene 3 or 4 years later, and for me, he is Jules."
"It’s uncanny with his looks, personality, driving… He’s at the same team. It’s like he’s sort of arisen again."
Jules Bianchi was a rookie in Formula 1 but showed his immense talent during the early races. He had all eyes on him as he successfully emerged from the junior racing series.
In 2014, tragedy struck during the Japanese Grand Prix, as Bianchi lost control of his car and hit a tractor crane that was removing Adrian Sutil's Sauber from a similar crash. Since the halo wasn't introduced in F1 until 2018, Bianchi suffered significant injuries.
On July 17, 2015, Bianchi lost his life due to sustained injuries. He was 25. This was the first death in Formula 1 after Ayrton Senna's passing in 1994 and remains the only one since.
Charles Leclerc and his 2023 season with Ferrari
Charles Leclerc joined the grid in 2018 with Sauber and soon moved to Ferrari. He is compared to Jules Bianchi a lot, given his team and his driving.
Leclerc hopes to win the F1 world championship in the future. He came close in the 2022 season but lost out due to various issues in the team.
Since then, Charles Leclerc has been trying to remain competitive, but the SF-23 hasn't been able to perform so well. Max Verstappen has been dominating the season with Red Bull, and Ferrari has lost out quite a bit standing in fourth place. Leclerc recently revealed that he was sure that something had been wrong with the car since the pre-season testing.
