Leclerc: “This one is for Anthoine”

Charles Leclerc has an extraordinary new mental strength. At 21, the young Monegasque has already gone through so many challenging trials, with the successive losses of his lifelong mentor, Jules Bianchi, his father, and finally his childhood friend, Anthoine Hubert. He responded in his own way, by winning the race shortly after, as he was able to do in 2017 in F2 in Baku.

This victory, his first in F1, had eluded him until now, with near misses in Bahrain (engine problems in the final laps) and Austria (a tough overtake by Max Verstappen in the final moments). Yesterday, in qualifying, he put on a show, leaving all the competition (including his teammate Sebastian Vettel) more than seven-tenths behind. But that was before the dramatic Formula 2 race.

On the grid, Pierre Gasly, another childhood friend, told him: « Win it for Anthoine! » The whole paddock secretly thought the same, as it was well-deserved and would bring comfort to a grieving brotherhood. Throughout the race, he was outstanding, making only one inconsequential mistake. But when it was time to step onto the podium, it was hard to smile: « Very difficult to enjoy this victory with what happened yesterday. It’s a dream come true. Since I was a child, I’ve dreamed of being an F1 driver, which came true last year, to go to Ferrari, which happened this year, and to win, which is happening today. »

Despite everything, such a performance cannot erase the immense loss of the day before: « Losing Anthoine yesterday took me back to 2005, my first French championship, he was there. It was Esteban (Ocon), Pierre (Gasly), and me. We were four kids dreaming of Formula 1. We grew up together, spending years in karting. It’s a big shock for me. » For the first time in his career, he found himself in the situation of losing someone on a track on which he has to race the next day: « It’s difficult to close the visor and go through those same corners at the same speed as the day before. But that’s what you have to do. »

However, his race was not smooth sailing. The first hiccup came when he exited the pits behind his teammate, Sebastian Vettel: « After two or three laps, I saw there was a big pace difference. So I was confident we wouldn’t lose time together. » In the last laps of the race, he didn’t have the luxury of savoring it, as Lewis Hamilton put pressure on him: « Every lap, my engineer was giving me the gaps, and he was really fast. I was comfortable on the softs, but I struggled more with the mediums. I was trying to focus and bring the car home as quickly as possible. One more lap, and I would have struggled to keep him behind me. »

He will now have a few days before diving into the frenzy of Monza as a driver dressed in red.

From our special correspondent at Spa-Francorchamps