Charles Leclerc Wins Rookie of the Year

Monaco driver Charles Leclerc has been having a solid week. Mere days after signing a contract with the Alfa Romeo-Sauber, he has won the Rookie of the Year award. He outclassed the F2 field in his debut season and racked up seven wins across the year.

Charles Leclerc also achieved eight qualifying pole positions, a record in itself. No other driver had ever managed more than one. Adding to his repertoire were four fastest laps with the Prema Racing team in its second year in the category. The Monegasque driver wrapped up the drivers’ crown at the standalone F2/GP3 event at Jerez in early October.

His first taste in Formula one machinery came from first practice outings for Sauber at four grands prix towards the end of the year. Later, on Saturday Leclerc was announced as one of the squad’s drivers for the 2018 F1 season alongside Marcus Ericsson.

Leclerc said, “Coming into 2017 I didn’t expect a season like that. Formula 2 is a very competitive series and for rookies it’s very hard because the Pirelli tyre is a hard one to learn. It’s a hard rookie season and to top it off with F1 [graduation] is amazing.”

F1 CEO Chase Carey presented the award to Leclerc. Meanwhile, McLaren’s two-time F1 world champion Fernando Alonso was among the other nominees for the award, after making his debut at the Indianapolis 500 in May.

Leclerc is now preparing for his F1 debut in 2018. It will be interesting to see how he compares alongside his more experienced teammate Marcus Ericsson. Leclerc’s and Ericsson’s partnership has now left Pascal Wehrlein without a drive for the upcoming. Leclerc’s inclusion bodes perfectly well with Ferrari’s plan to convert Sauber into a Ferrari B team as he is a Ferrari Academy driver. So its safe to say that Ferrari are taking a page out of Red Bull’s book with regard to a Young Driver Programme.