“Polite Harry Potter” Charles Leclerc Once Surprisingly Transitioned to Get Under Lewis Hamilton’s Skin

Ever since Charles Leclerc entered F1, he has been hailed as one of the top-class talents. Many often called him a future world champion when he exceeded expectations in 2019 at Ferrari. Looking at Leclerc, it is never easy to gauge how ruthless he can get on track. Having a charming look, the Monegasque becomes quite unforgiving if you go up against him on track. Back in 2019, former F1 driver Martin Brundle appreciated this transition from being a “Polite Harry Potter”.

As per GP Fans, Sky Sports F1 commentator Brundle had been quite surprised on seeing Leclerc battling Lewis Hamilton in Belgium and Italy in 2019. Brundle expressed his thoughts in his Sky Sports column and gave him a nice metaphor for his transition in Monza.

He stated, “Monza was a tense thriller with a fairytale ending. Charles Leclerc may appear to be Harry Potter’s polite younger brother but in combat, his elbows have razor blades.” Martin referred to how Leclerc got under Hamilton’s skin in Monza in several wheel-to-wheel battles for the Italian GP win.

The former McLaren driver further added, “He grows horns at 200mph, and his head appears to be as strong as the carbon fiber Ferrari chassis he steered to a glorious victory on home ground in front of the ecstatic Tifosi in Monza.”

Read More: Charles Leclerc Geared Up to Follow “Courageous” Lewis Hamilton’s Lead To Pursue Long Cherished Dream

The battle in Monza was so epic that even Lewis Hamilton praised Leclerc over his successive wins in Belgium and Italy. Hamilton may have felt hard done with some crazy tussles on Ferrari’s turf with Charles. But, he still knew it was quite fair of Leclerc to take an ecstatic home victory.

How Charles Leclerc overcame the Mercedes challenge in Italy in 2019

Charles Leclerc had been waiting to taste the champagne on the top step of the podium in 2019. After a cruel loss in Bahrain, earlier that season, Leclerc was focused to get his maiden win in F1. While he got it at Spa-Francorchamps, it felt somber due to his friend Anthoine Hubert’s passing on the same weekend.

Although, the following weekend in Italy was pure racing. Ferrari had a rocket ship down the straights and Leclerc started on pole position to keep the Mercedes cars at bay. Though, later on, Hamilton caught up with the Monegasque driver to challenge him for the lead.

This started an unrelenting tussle between the duo balanced in attack and defense. Eventually, Leclerc somehow held off Lewis who dropped to 3rd in the race after a lock-up at Turn 1. Still, the Scuderia had the other Mercedes of Valtteri Bottas chasing them.

The 53 laps in Italy that afternoon may have been an eternity for Leclerc as he was somehow held off and overcame the Mercedes challenge. Bottas just could get Leclerc who crossed the line to take an epic win for Ferrari on its home turf.

WATCH THIS STORY: Charles Leclerc in a Heated Debate with a Max Verstappen fan over Dinner

It was delirium amongst the Tifosi as the crowd gathered to make one of the most famous podium celebrations in F1. Monza burst into red on that Sunday afternoon after Leclerc’s triumph over Hamilton. Charles may want to repeat this heroic feat soon to justify that his ruthless racing style can yield more such wins for the Scuderia. What do you think of Leclerc’s racing skills?