![](https://image-cdn.essentiallysports.com/wp-content/uploads/imago1034621979h-1.jpg?width=600)
via Imago
LECLERC Charles mco, Scuderia Ferrari SF-23, portrait during the 2023 Formula 1 Lenovo Japanese Grand Prix, 16th round of the 2023 Formula One World Championship, WM, Weltmeisterschaft from September 22 to 24, 2023 on the Suzuka International Racing Course, in Suzuka – F1 – JAPANESE GRAND PRIX 2023 DPPI/Panoramic PUBLICATIONxNOTxINxFRAxBEL 00123036_F12023GP17JAP_JK171447
![](https://image-cdn.essentiallysports.com/wp-content/uploads/imago1034621979h-1.jpg?width=600)
via Imago
LECLERC Charles mco, Scuderia Ferrari SF-23, portrait during the 2023 Formula 1 Lenovo Japanese Grand Prix, 16th round of the 2023 Formula One World Championship, WM, Weltmeisterschaft from September 22 to 24, 2023 on the Suzuka International Racing Course, in Suzuka – F1 – JAPANESE GRAND PRIX 2023 DPPI/Panoramic PUBLICATIONxNOTxINxFRAxBEL 00123036_F12023GP17JAP_JK171447
The 24 Hours of Le Mans 2024 results are in, and at the top spot is Ferrari‘s trio consisting of Nicklas Nielsen, Miguel Molina, and Antonio Fuoco. The team managed to improve upon their last year’s fifth-place finish to win the race. This year’s race occurred at the Circuit de la Sarthe and it marked the 92nd running of the Le Mans 24 Hours. As a fellow Scuderia racer, Charles Leclerc came to know that his Le Mans counterparts have had a resounding victory. Interestingly, the Monegasque shares a connection with Antonio Fuoco, one of the Le Mans 2024 winners.
The two of them have been friends right since their Formula 2 days, and the friendship continues to date. Being a Formula 1 racer, it is unsurprising that Charles Leclerc also follows 24 Hours of Le Mans. Thus, when he commented on the #50 Ferrari team’s win, his words sounded quite animated. He spoke to F1ingenerale, saying, “I was moved by Antonio’s race, I never get moved by other people’s races. But Antonio made me cry and I am very happy for him and for Ferrari, for this historic success.”
🆑 to @F1ingenerale_: “as of now, i just follow it (24H of le mans) from home, but if one day i were to be there, i would probably like to do it next to my younger brother arthur and with antonio.”
“i was moved by antonio’s race, i never get moved by other people’s races. but… pic.twitter.com/Bo0blM0SS1
— leclerc data (@leclercdata) June 20, 2024
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At 26, Charles has won a total of 6 Grands Prix and all of them have been for Ferrari. However, he has yet to see the face of a Formula 1 Championship trophy. Thus, when he says he got emotional to find his friend winning the Le Mans trophy for the Scuderia, it is obvious he wants to replicate that win for himself. He was also asked if he would ever get into Le Mans himself and the response was that one day, Leclerc might debut with his brother Arthur and Antonio by his side.
Charles Leclerc reminds Le Mans winner of his father
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As a full-time Ferrari recruit, Charles Leclerc knows the pressure that comes with driving for such a legendary team. And when Antonio Fuoco flourished as a Scuderia racer for Le Mans by winning the race, the Monegasque was one of the first ones to congratulate him. Ever since 2016, Fuoco and Leclerc had been inseparable at the Ferrari Driver Academy. So, he obviously knows his old F2 friend well enough to know his family too.
![](https://image-cdn.essentiallysports.com/wp-content/uploads/2024-06-07T222101Z_1686729056_UP1EK671Q2ZZG_RTRMADP_3_MOTOR-F1-CANADA.jpg?width=150&blur=15)
via Reuters
Formula One F1 – Canadian Grand Prix – Circuit Gilles Villeneuve, Montreal, Canada – June 7, 2024 Ferrari’s Charles Leclerc during practice REUTERS/Jennifer Gauthier
Antonio Fuoco lost his father while he was involved in full-time racing just like Charles Leclerc did. So, when the Monegasque found that Antonio had won in Le Mans, he posted a picture of them on Instagram saying, “You deserve it all, you’re great.″ Of course, Leclerc knows how painful it is to win a race but misses out on having his father cheer on him because he won the 2017 Baku feature race in Formula 2 only 4 days after his father passed away.
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The death of Charles Leclerc’s father is not the only incident that has haunted the 26-year-old. He also lost his Godfather Jules Bianchi to a race incident at the Japanese GP 2014. At one point in time, Leclerc had mentioned how his father’s inability to pay for his Formula 1 aspirations was going to stop him from going further. But then, Bianchi’s help made it possible for the Monegasque to continue.
Having lost his father figures at a young age, do you think Charles can succeed under the huge pressure of Formula 1 as he has already toughened up due to those tragedies? Let us know in the comments below.