source: autohebdo magazine
format: interview
season: 2020, f1
"My parents divorced when I was four years old. My mother then married Hervé Leclerc and my two brothers were born very close together: Charles, when I was 9, and Arthur 3 years later. Our family's history with motorsport began with Hervé, a great enthusiast, who drove F3 between 1986 and 1989. My grandfather, Charles Manni, was part of a major industry in Monaco but he dreamed more of his family taking over the company than starting to race.
But Hervé's passion became our passion, and while we had a difficult start to our relationship-- it is not easy for a 5-year-old boy to see a new man come into his life-- karting brought us closer and brought us together. When Charles was 5 years old, we went to the Brignoles track for the first time: the one owned by Philippe Bianchi, Jules' father and a friend of Hervé. Jules and I became like two brothers and spent all our free time karting. We all grew up in this environment of future good drivers: Jules, Charles, Arthur, but also Norman Nato and Pierre Gasly. Despite the age differences, we all teamed up in endurance races and put cushions under the butts of the youngest kids. But on the other hand, we didn't give them any breaks on the track."
VIDEO: "Charles Leclerc: pilote Monégasque de Karting" (MonacoInfo, 2008)
Interviewer: And when you see your mom or dad driving around town like that, do you give them driving tips? What do you tell them?
Charles: Yes. I told them to obey all red lights.
Interviewer: Is there any advice you could give to people who are listening to us, who are watching us and who don't necessarily always drive very well?
Charles: Well, on the road, you respect the code and on the track, well, you drive.
Aarava: What's your most embarrassing moment in your career? On-track, off-track, F1 or not.
Charles: Probably when I had to tell my mechanic at the end of my last Formula Renault race that I had peed in the seat. This was quite embarassing.
Aarava: I don't know how that conversation starts. “I've got something to tell you.” Right. So, we're in Italy so I have to ask a very important question. You know, a lot of people take a lot of solace in the answer to this question: pineapple on pizza. Yes or no?
Charles: No.
Aarava: No, okay. Marcus said yes, so I'm with you.
Charles: Oh, no.
Aarava: He was going on about putting kebab stuff on the pizza. It was very weird, very weird.
Charles: Probably some Swedish thing.
Aarava: Yeah, I think it's Swedish tradition. So, social media these days in F1 is getting bigger and bigger and you're a really avid user of social media. How much does it kind of affect you on a week to week basis? Do you read much into what people say about you? Like, fans are saying about you on a race weekend or?
Charles: I'm actually quite a bit on social media, I really like to interact with the people that are following me. Then, obviously, I think I am in quite a lucky position where people generally likes me. Hopefully it will last. Maybe some people will get angry now hearing this and start to hate me but yeah, no. I'm quite liked so I try to be as close as possible to the people that are following me.
Aarava: On that same kind of line: obviously, you're probably tired of hearing it, but on that same line, obviously, everyone keeps talking about what you gonna do in the future, you gonna, you know, have a stepping stone to Haas? When are you gonna go to Ferrari? How much does that wear you down? Like, do you get annoyed by the constant talk of it or do you kind of just blank it out?
Charles: No, I mean, I understand that there are rumors, people want to know what's happening and obviously, when I was watching Formula One, I was also very impatient to know which drivers will move in which team. So I completely understand it. Yeah, I just hope that I will be able to let you know very soon.
Aarava: On another driver talk, you know, Ricciardo is going to Renault now, Alonso is retiring.. As a driver whose not like, I mean, you're a little bit involved, but do you read a lot into that? Like, do you take interest in what other people are doing?
Charles: Yeah, definitely. I mean, it's quite difficult to miss the news about Ricciardo going to Renault and Alonso stopping at the end of the year. But, yeah, of course. Yeah, I'm checking these also.
Aarava: Any funny moment with Marcus or previous teammates in lower categories or anything like that? Like pranks or just really funny moments, stand up moments?
Charles: It's difficult. I'm normally getting on very well with my teammates. So there are a lot of funny moments, to pick one is something difficult.
Aarava: Okay. And obviously last weekend you can't get away from it: you got in a really horrendous crash with Alonso and lucky that he came out of it, really. What was the feeling like right when it happened? Like, was it just a blur really?
Charles: Well, I just remember trying to downshift and, and go again on track hoping that there will be no damages. But unfortunately, obviously, I expected some damages and it was not possible to continue. So, just frustration really to not continue the race.
Aarava: Your birthday is coming up later in the year. So obviously, if it's not on a race weekend, what would you usually do to celebrate your birthday? Like any kind of activities or a favorite meal or a favorite drink even to have on a night out?
Charles: I'm quite boring, to be honest with nights out and parties and things like this. But honestly, I am, yeah, probably a bit of time with the family and friends and that's it basically.
Aarava: Ok. Fair enough. It's a nice quiet night in. Maybe that Netflix question was quite on point.
Charles: Yeah, exactly. That, what I was going to say, probably it's on Netflix also.
Aarava: All you drivers post some really nice holiday photos over summer break. So, is there any place in the world where you haven't been yet where you want to go on holiday?
Charles: I really like traveling. I really like the sun and the sea. So, probably all the parts of the world where I haven't gone where there are nice beaches. I will, I will try to go.
Aarava: So, obviously we talked about your social media interaction, stuff like that and we talk about your fans as well. I think a lot of people wanna wonder, like, do you generally, like, actually look through your phone and like, actually see these tweets all the time and like, are you generally the one that's always kind of, you know, liking or responding like that because I know a lot of drivers might use management?
Charles: Yeah, I mean, I've had some propositions of people wanting to help me out with it, but I've never, and I will never, never want someone else to manage it. I mean, maybe someone could do it better but I prefer it to be a bit worse with myself doing it than somebody else. So it stays true and that it reflects myself more than the person that is writing a tweet for me.
Will: The question everybody has in this paddock right now, and it is providing the majority of the column inches, is what happens to this team's young charge the majority of people here see as a potential future world champion in terms of that second, and thus far unsigned, red seat next to Sebastian Vettel at Ferrari? Seb today said Charles shouldn't worry about rushing himself into that seat and there's certainly a vibe in this paddock that he shouldn't. He has no need to- [laughs] just talking about you. Are you going to rush to Ferrari?
Charles: What?
Will: Ah, we've already asked you this? We've already done the interview today. I'm so sorry. Are you getting sick of being asked about it yet?
Charles: Bah. Not this type of question, really.
Will: It's nuts though, right?
Charles: What? Yeah, it is.
Will: It's got to feel a bit crazy.
Charles: What?
Will: got to feel a bit crazy, like everyone's talking about it already.
Charles: Yeah, definitely. But for now it's not realistic, as I was saying. But yeah, I'll try to do the job here first.
Will: You've completely thrown me. I'll get back to it. Thanks man. So yeah. Yes. Him. Interview now.
--
Will: Lewis has been announced at Mercedes, meaning one Mercedes seat has gone, probably the second as well. Red Bull is pretty much stacked up. Do you know where you're going to be driving next year yet?
Charles: No, I'm extremely sorry to not bring anything new yet. I hope that I will be soon, but no, for now, I have no news.
Will: Is it difficult to keep focus on the job at hand when so much is being written about you?
Charles: It is a little bit, but I don't know if it's natural or whatever. But, uh, once I am at the track and that I need to focus on the job, it becomes quite naturally for me to focus fully on the job I have to do and to extract off my head anything that, uh, that are rumors or talks.
Will: Do you read any of it away from the track?
Charles: [Laughs]. I do.
Will: What's the, what's the best thing that you've seen or the thing that surprised you the most?
Charles: Ah, I don't know. Um, I, it's always nice to see Ferrari and Leclerc in the same article and that will never change. But on the other hand, for now, there has been no talks. So, but it's always good to read an article like this.
Interviewer: A difficult race, but you performed well.
Charles: Yes the race was very hard due to the rain, however ART GP and the good chassis helped me a lot. I hope to win the next race too.
Interviewer: Your strongest adversary Max Verstappen made a mistake…not you. You proved to be calm, determined, relaxed/comfortable… but how would it have gone with Max in the race on track?
Charles: Honestly, I don’t know what would have happened/how it would have gone but [smirk] we did it without him. He made a mistake. Maybe next time.
source: Pierre Gasly's Reddit AMA 2020 (youtube)
"It goes back to a long time ago when we were kids, like, nine, ten years old. We would go to holidays together and spend more time. I don't know. It just came, like one day we decided to call each other calamar, which is not really [chuckles] such a beautiful nickname but, yeah, it was just for fun. We were kids and we were laughing. And actually, we have many other nicknames because we were teammates also in karting and we spent a lot, a lot of time together. So, a lot of nicknames came alongside all this time. And this kind of stayed with us."
VIDEO: "Formule 1: La course reprend pour Charles Leclerc" (MonacoInfo, 2021)
Interviewer: The interview is almost over. I don't know if you remember, but I did your interview when you were only ten. It was 2007, I think. You were in karting. Did you imagine when you were ten years old that you'd end up here, today in F1 and with Ferrari no less?
Charles: Of course, I remember. Oh no, I didn’t imagine it then. I didn’t. I remember my first memories of the Monaco Grand Prix. I must have been four or five years old. I used to watch the Formula One races from the balcony of my best friend's apartment, just after the first corner, with this dream of one day being a Formula One driver. Already, that sounded crazy! And so, year after year, I worked towards my goal of one day reaching Formula One, and why not Ferrari one day? But even then, Formula One seemed very complicated to achieve.
Interviewer: Last question: what would you say to the ten-year-old you were at the time? With the hindsight you have now, he's in front of you, this child, this young Charles Leclerc. What would you like to say to him?
Charles: You've got to believe in yourself, it's uh, it's for me, it's the, it's the most important. Uh, it's true that I've never really believed in myself until I got to Formula One. Uh, I think that was a strength on the one hand, because it made me work a lot, because I was always saying to myself 'I’m not good enough at this and this and this'. But yeah, it also was beneficial in certain moments.. So, uh, here's believing in yourself and, above all, having fun.
Will: Now, a lot of people think you're French but you're not.
Charles: No, I'm from, I'm from, I'm from Monaco, which is a different country. But, uh, yeah, I speak French. But, uh, yeah, I'm not French.
Will: But, that said, its yourself, its Ocon, Gasly... you guys have all come up through the ranks together. How crazy is it that all three of you find yourselves here right now racing in the pinnacle of motorsport?
Charles: Yeah, it's quite crazy actually. Uh, I remember we were, we did our first ever French championship altogether in 2005 and I was--
Will: 2005? You've made me feel old.
Charles: I was 7.5 years at that time. And, uh, yeah, remember we were imagining ourselves in Formula 1 one day looking at the TV. And, and to be now, all three together in the paddock is, uh, it is quite crazy.
Will: That's absolutely nuts. Do you guys go out for dinner and talk about it at all?
Charles: No, not yet, but we should.
