How did Charles Leclerc grow his Instagram audience by 64% in one year?

It is no surprise that Charles Leclerc is one of the most popular F1 drivers on the grid. He is the wonderkid of Ferrari and has a down-to-earth and polite personality, something that millions of people appreciate and admire. He has a massive social media following that is growing rapidly with every season.

Since last year, his Instagram following has increased by around 64%, a massive jump in popularity that can be attributed to several reasons.

To begin with, Leclerc was a strong world championship contender in the 2022 F1 season. Despite not being able to keep up with Max Verstappen, the battles he had with the Dutchman were thrilling to witness. Furthermore, F1 as a whole grew quite a lot during 2022, especially after Netflix's Drive to Survive started gaining traction in the US and other countries.

More importantly, Leclerc's Instagram reels became extremely popular as he shared several behind-the-scenes videos and pictures of his personal life.

Meta, the social media platform's parent company, recently sat down with the Ferrari driver and his social media lead, Sarynna Servello, to talk about how his social media accounts work and how Instagram Reels was instrumental in the account's growth.

Servello said:

"Without Reels, our growth would not have been what it is. The entire industry is shifting towards short-form, people are looking for quick, snackable videos to consume and enjoy. Reels help with (1) discoverability, people like Charles Leclerc who are huge elsewhere can be discovered by the US market more quickly thanks to reels, and (2) connection, relating to his audience by showing that personal side of him."

Charles Leclerc himself spoke about the importance of having a dependable and trustworthy social media team around him with whom he can be comfortable. He later explained the importance of having a connection with the fans, saying:

"When it comes to strategy, the most important thing you can do as an athlete is to have a team around you. One that knows you well, with whom you can be at ease, that shares the same vision and with whom you can be yourself. From the moment you have that, the content will feel genuine and be loved by your fans. This, connecting with the fans, is really my main priority."

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Charles Leclerc admits Red Bull is miles ahead of Ferrari

After a tough 2023 F1 Bahrain GP, Charles Leclerc admitted that Red Bull are 'on another planet' and Ferrari need to be rock solid to earn as many points as possible in order to stay close to the top.

He said:

"We expected to be on the back foot this weekend, especially in the race to Red Bull – that team is on another planet right now. But that’s exactly why most weekends we need to bring maximum points possible home, and we didn’t manage to do so."

Leclerc's SF-23 came to an abrupt stop on lap 41 of the race. Ferrari later disclosed that there was a wiring problem due to inadequate fastening between the engine and the chassis.