Leclerc wins Formula 1 start: white lie to terminally ill father appears in a new light

Created: 03/22/2022, 06:16

By: Alexander Kaindl

Charles Leclerc has won the first race of the new Formula 1 season.

It is also a moment of great emotion for the Ferrari driver.

• Formula 1*: Charles Leclerc has won the first race of the new season

• His father Hervé, who had already died, was considered a great supporter of the current Ferrari driver

• Leclerc junior once confessed a little white lie on his deathbed

Sakhir - The new Formula 1 season starts with an absolute cracker: Ferrari!

double win!

What sounds like an episode from the glorious Schumacher-Barrichello days is the current state of affairs in the premier class.

Charles Leclerc triumphed in Bahrain in front of his teammate Carlos Sainz - the Scuderia can be expected again.

Formula 1: Charles Leclerc wins season opener in Bahrain

It was known that the Italians wanted to attack again this season.

A lot of time, a lot of money and a lot of nerves went into the development of the new car.

The past two years they had given up almost without a fight.

And now?

Like a phoenix from the ashes!

A man plays a key role in the Ferrari* plans: Charles Leclerc, who now has the first 26 World Championship points in his account.

The Monegasse belongs to the new generation of Formula 1 drivers.

Drivers like him, George Russell (Mercedes), Lando Norris (McLaren) and Max Verstappen (Red Bull) are all about the same age, have known each other for ages and have all been traded as future world champions.

In the case of Verstappen, the prophecy has already come true.

Charles Leclerc after his victory in Bahrain.

© ZUMA Wire / Imago

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Charles Leclerc: Ferrari driver a serious candidate for the Formula 1 World Championship?

Maybe Leclerc will soon grab the title too?

Because the Ferrari seems to be really strong, the big competition from Mercedes and Red Bull is still behind.

The coming weeks will show if the Reds are consistent enough to seriously play a role in the World Championship fight.

In any case, the first step has been taken.

And Leclerc will certainly think of one person in these hours who brought him to motorsport in the first place: his father Hervé Leclerc.

He was once a racing driver himself, and he challenged and supported his offspring from an early age.

Charles and his brother Arthur, four years his junior, made it into the professional business - the younger Leclerc scion is currently driving in Formula 3 and the older one is celebrating victories in Formula 1. First place in Bahrain was Charles Leclerc's third triumph in the premier class .

Charles Leclerc: Formula 1 driver with a white lie to his terminally ill father Hervé

Father Hervé died in 2017 after a long battle with cancer - at the age of only 54.

A heavy blow of fate for the entire family, especially for the racing driver sons, who were just 20 and 16 years old at the time.

Before Charles Leclerc's recent success, a conversation with his father shortly before his death in the summer of 2017 appears in a new light: Because of course it was always Hervé's dream that his son would one day drive in Formula 1.

Leclerc junior told his father on his deathbed that this dream had come true, that his father's great wish was becoming a reality: he had secured his place in the premier class and had just signed his contract with Sauber for the 2018 season.

The problem: When Charles addressed these words to his dying father in the summer of 2017, no agreement had been reached.

This was not to take place until months later, in December.

Charles Leclerc talks about his father's death and goals in Formula 1

Charles Leclerc revealed this little white lie in a BBC interview two years later.

In it he also said: “It was a bit earlier than I actually signed.

In the end I didn't lie, because now I'm here.”