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chibrary · 1 year

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source: "proust questionnaire: charles leclerc" (now deleted) format: interview season: f2, 2017

What is your greatest fear? Charles: Snakes! They’re scary!

When do you lie? Charles: I really rarely lie: I hate lying. Probably when my trainer asks what I ate for dinner! [laughs]

What do you most dislike about your appearance? Charles: My hair: it’s always such a mess to get it right!

What is the quality you most like in a man? Charles: In a man I don’t really care! [laughs] My friends are mostly funny, so I’ll say funny: I like to laugh.

What is the quality you most like in a woman? Charles: I think it’s a mix between her looks and what she is inside.

Full text of now-deleted interview:

What is your idea of perfect happiness? Charles Leclerc: Racing on a circuit with a beach quite near.

What is your greatest fear? Charles: Snakes! They’re scary!

Which person do you most admire? Charles: My father. For many people the father is somebody who inspires you: he was a bit of an example for me since I was a child, and he went racing and taught me many things, so that’s probably the reason.

What is your current state of mind? Charles: Very happy! I won the championship with a race to go, we’re in Abu Dhabi and it’s a great place for a holiday! [laughs] It’s also a good place to race, and you can arrive with a bit less stress with the title in the pocket, so it feels good.

When do you lie? Charles: I really rarely lie: I hate lying. Probably when my trainer asks what I ate for dinner! [laughs]

What do you most dislike about your appearance? Charles: My hair: it’s always such a mess to get it right!

What is the quality you most like in a man? Charles: In a man I don’t really care! [laughs] My friends are mostly funny, so I’ll say funny: I like to laugh.

What is the quality you most like in a woman? Charles: I think it’s a mix between her looks and what she is inside.

When and where were you happiest? Charles: Probably any time I’m on track and it goes well: Jerez was one of those moments, last year in Abu Dhabi as well. When you win a championship it feels amazing: you put a lot of dedication to win the title, and when you win a title there is so much happiness all around you as well, because obviously the team is very happy as well. It can sometimes be very short, but as short as it can be, it’s very intense happiness.

Which talent would you most like to have? Charles: Playing football: I’m so bad at it! I’m actually quite good on the kick ups, on the technical side I’m quite fine, but any time I need to shoot in the goal it doesn’t go well…

If you could change one thing about yourself, what would it be? Charles: I don’t know! It’s a question I’ve never really asked myself, and you can’t really change yourself. I’m definitely not perfect, and any time I see something in myself I don’t like I change it, but at the moment…

What do you consider your greatest achievement? Charles: I guess winning Formula 2. Every year you go a step up in your career, when it goes well anyway, so the last championship I have won is Formula 2, so I would say that.

Where would you most like to live? Charles: I am so happy with my city: Monaco is an amazing city. Probably the only 2 other places that I really enjoy going are here in Abu Dhabi, and I went this year for the first time to Los Angeles and it was an amazing experience: I loved it. I probably don’t see myself living either here or in LA: I have everyone in Monaco, it is a small town where everyone knows everyone else, so Monaco.

What is your most treasured possession? Charles: My Fiat 500! It’s from 1969, and it’s just a great car! [laughs] It’s so much fun, and it’s not so quick but it’s very fun to drive, and actually people look at you more than when you are in a supercar or something like that! It’s always very fun to go in it.

What is your favourite occupation? Charles: It would be strange to not answer a driver!

What virtue do you most value in your friends? Charles: Honesty.

Who is your hero of fiction? Charles: Harry Potter: I’ve always been a fan when I was younger, and it has stayed with me! Okay, now a bit less, but if I have to pick one I will chose him because he is the one I followed: the movies I didn’t really like, but I was a huge fan when I was younger. And actually, many people say I look very much like him! [laughs]

Which historical figure do you most identify with? Charles: That is very difficult to answer! I don’t know.

What is it that you most dislike? Charles: Arrogance! It just makes me angry, to see an arrogant person: I think there are no reasons to be arrogant. And I have been racing for 15 years: I know many people! [laughs]

What is your greatest regret? Charles: Probably to have not enjoyed the times with my father enough while he was here.

What is your motto? Charles: I have one, but I can’t remember! [laughs] It’s something like with no dedication you won’t have the results you want: I can’t remember it in English…

#series:f2 #format:interview #year:2017

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chibrary · 7 months

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TODAY IN CHONTENT: NOVEMBER 25TH

source: racevideoindex on twitter series: f2, 2017

Charles, already F2 Champion, slows down on the final straight to allow teammate-- and good friend-- Antonio Fuoco a spot on the podium for their last race weekend together.

Prema quotes the two on the switch in their newsletter:

Charles Leclerc: "In the end, we let Antonio by, he deserved the podium and he’s fighting for championship positions so it’s positive for the team. Maybe we deserved the podium too because our pace was really really good, but we will try to max out tomorrow and to bring home the team championship.” Antonio Fuoco: “I want to thank Charles for the last lap because he did a great job and played it really fair, and I also want to thank the team.“

...but team orders are never fun for drivers, even when one of your friends benefits. Autosport manages to get a slightly less diplomatic Charles immediately post-race:

Then Leclerc suddenly slowed on the run to the line and Fuoco swept by to take the final podium spot behind race winner Oliver Rowland and Artem Markelov by just 0.015s. "I didn't have any problems [on the final lap]," Leclerc told Autosport. "It [was] just a team order because Antonio is still playing in the championship to be the second rookie, so they asked me to let him past." When asked if he was happy to obey the order, Leclerc replied: "I am not so happy, obviously, because in my opinion it's a bit pointless, but on the other side if it can help Antonio in some way by getting a better result in the championship I will help him because now I don't have any more to win. "A podium would have been fine and it was quite frustrating because our race was very good - I would have loved to do a podium. "I don't agree 100% [with] that decision but at the end it's team orders and sometimes you have you show that you can accept them also."

#vgp:today in chontent #series:f2 #year:2017 #driver:antonio

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chibrary · 3 months

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Today in Chontent: March 14th (2017)

#series:f2 #format:socialmedia #year:2017 #vgp:today in chontent

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chibrary · 3 months

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Source / Official FIA Flickr Account Series / F2, 2017

Charles at the 2017 FIA Prize Giving in Versailles with his plus one, Lorenzo. He would win Rookie of the Year for his perfomance in Formula 2.

#series:f2 #year:2017 #family:lorenzo

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chibrary · 1 year

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charles and antonio fail to recognize a photo of prince charles.

source: "the f2 emoji challenge format: video (challenge) season: 2017, f2

#series:f2 #format:video #driver:antonio #year:2017

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chibrary · 5 months

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INTERVIEW: The next big thing? - Exclusive F1 interview with Ferrari's rising star (Motorsport.com, 2017)

source: motorsport.com published: july 2017 series: f2, 2017

Excerpts:

How come your family was in Monaco?

Well my father has always been there. My mum then married my father and became Monegasque also.

Your grandparents were as well?

Yeah. They had, well my grandfather had quite a big plastic industry and then my father had some little industries for himself but to be honest, he was more following me on the races than anything.

So is it a rich family?

No. My parents aren't particularly rich, my grandparents were a little bit, so they were helping us pay for the hotels and all that but they never wanted to invest in anything in racing.

How far did your dad's career go?

He went into Formula 3 then he tested in Formula 1 once or twice, but he never had the budget. It was like 10 years before I was born, so that's why I don't know much about it

Was he always keen for you to race? Did he push you into it?

No, I don't think he was. Actually, on the way back after I did my first laps, which I asked for on the karting, I said to my father 'I want to do that when I'm older'. And from then on we were going very, very often to Jules' track, probably every weekend to drive because I was really asking for it, and obviously my father was more than happy that I was driving because it was his passion, but he has never pushed me. I mean I always wanted to go there so it wasn't necessary for him to push me.

Charles Leclerc is a name that you will be hearing a lot in the next few months.

He is dominating the FIA F2 championship this season (the re-branded GP2) and at Silverstone this weekend he took his fifth victory of his rookie season to open up an 87 point lead in the table.

In two weeks his attention will turn to F1 testing with Ferrari after the Hungarian Grand Prix. Leclerc will drive for the Scuderia on one of the two days of testing before the summer shutdown and it is likely that from there attention on him will grow as the market for F1 seats for 2018 begins in earnest.

The Ferrari Academy driver is a hot property, so JA on F1 took the opportunity - before the stampede - to visit the F2 paddock to get some exclusive time with the next big thing to find out more about the man behind the name.

Leclerc is from Monaco, his father used to race F3 cars not terribly succesfully, but he was mentored by Jules Bianchi, who passed away after a serious accident in the 2014 Japanese Grand Prix.

Leclerc has lost two people close to him recently, as his father died shortly before the Baku weekend. Leclerc went out and won that race, demonstrating a strong mentality.

Apart from his speed, what catches the eye about Leclerc in the car is his calmness and racing brain. He makes few mistakes and is capable of overtakes like a Hamilton and a Verstappen, but more driven by calculation than aggression. He is not the finished article, of course, but the raw materials are there for a different kind of driver.

So, let's go back a little bit to the origins, how did you start racing?.

Yeah my dad used to race in F3 but his best friend was also the father of Jules. So every time we had free time we were going to the track so that's how I actually started when we were going there. The first time I went there I was probably three-and-a-half and I didn't want to go to school, so I told my dad I was sick and he brought me to Phillippe's track and there Jules' dad was driving, obviously, and I did my first lap behind Phillippe with a rope attaching his go-kart to my go-kart, to be sure that I knew the basis before. Then I did half a lap and he took off the rope and that's how I started.

How come your family was in Monaco?

Well my father has always been there. My mum then married my father and became Monegasque also.

Your grandparents were as well?

Yeah. They had, well my grandfather had quite a big plastic industry and then my father had some little industries for himself but to be honest, he was more following me on the races than anything.

So is it a rich family?

No. My parents aren't particularly rich, my grandparents were a little bit, so they were helping us pay for the hotels and all that but they never wanted to invest in anything in racing,

How far did your dad's career go?

He went into Formula 3 then he tested in Formula 1 once or twice, but he never had the budget. It was like 10 years before I was born, so that's why I don't know much about it

Was he always keen for you to race? Did he push you into it?

No I don't think he was. Actually, on the way back after I did my first laps, which I asked for on the karting, I said to my father 'I want to do that when I'm older'. And from then on we were going very, very often to Jules' track, probably every weekend to drive because I was really asking for it, and obviously my father was more than happy that I was driving because it was his passion, but he has never pushed me. I mean I always wanted to go there so it wasn't necessary for him to push me.

What were the turning points along the way? If you had to identify moments where things really turned.

Hm. Well obviously, my first race I did, Jules was my mechanic, so obviously there he taught me a lot from the beginning which helped me to work maybe a bit quicker than others. Then I would say 2011 when Nicolas [Todt, Leclerc's manager] took me, obviously it was a big moment in my career because at the end of that year I would have stopped, because my sponsor couldn't have afforded the other budgets.

Jules has helped me massively to make contact with Nicolas, explaining to him the situation of my career, that I will have stopped at the end of the year. And luckily Nicolas helped me, and since then he has helped me hugely. Then in 2014, when I went up to cars, that has been quite a big moment also and 2016 which was my first year as a Ferrari Academy driver.

And you won championships along the way, which has not been easy – some big fights. But you seem as you've gotten older you've gotten more – not dominant, too strong a word – much stronger as you progressed up the category?

Yeah well I believe, yeah. As I said I think, I had a really good godfather, that was Jules, and that helped me massively to grow up as a driver especially as I made my step up to cars. Well, his crash arrived quite early in my car career, but he has helped me hugely to get into this world and then my father - even though he hasn't been to a very high motorsport level - his advice was always very good and I think circumstances I've been in in the last two years, losing two very close people, have made me a lot stronger as a person.

Obviously it was a big shock for all of us what happened with Jules, but did that hit you very hard? Did that take a while to get over? You were very young as well.

Yeah I mean; Jules, it was a bit like the family, my brother was his best friend. So, yeah it has been very hard at the beginning. It still is obviously but I need to do well for them up there. It has been a shock. Once I knew, I remember I was in Jerez for the last round of the championship and my father wouldn't tell me what happened and I learned eventually and obviously it was quite hard.

What happened in the race? Do you remember what you were thinking? Or did you forget about it and drive the car?

Well I had to. Obviously it's quite hard in these types of circumstances but that's how – I've seen it the way that I had to do the best job I could in the car. Obviously in that moment I didn't really know all about his real state because we didn't have any news in Jerez, yet but I knew the accident was quite bad but I told myself that I knew that Jules - and my father, in Baku - would be happy for me to do well and not to think about it and not do a bad race. So that's the only thing I was thinking about; trying to do the best I could for them.

In the Formula 1 paddock people were really impressed with that; impressed that you turned up for the next race and won in Baku. That really made an impression in the Formula 1 paddock And obviously the way you drive, I've worked with Senna and Schumacher, you have a calmness as a driver. I mean, when you need to get on with it you do and you make the passes, but you don't make the passes in a very aggressive way, and it seems to me that you make them in a thoughtful way. Is that right?

Yes. I think I've definitely improved in this since I was younger. I was very very emotional when I was younger. I could get quite angry very quickly and I knew that was my weakness and I've worked on it quite a lot.

How?

With Formula Medicine [an organisation run by Dr Cecharelli], who are helping (mentally) the drivers to just stay as calm as possible. I have actually been doing that for nine years now; to mentally work on myself, which I think is very very important and now for two years I'm working with the mental trainers of Ferrari which are amazing also. And that's helped me a lot to improve in this manner, to stay calm in these difficult times, that was quite difficult from me in the beginning.

And one of the things I've noticed working with champions over the years is that when they've had a big setback, they first seekto understand it, and then they throw it away like a piece of rubbish and move on and never think about it again otherwise it drags you down, doesn't it?

Right, exactly. I think, in sport the last part of the season in F3 was hugely difficult and to come back from that in GP3 has been quite hard. And as I said I think until I was 11 years old I would have never thought the mental aspect of a driver is that important and once I started to actually work on it and see the improvements I actually think that a driver cannot be good if his mental aspect is not right.

The other thing I'm fascinated with is that we all see the talented guys coming through from the juniors, like you, Lewis or Verstappen. But now there is a real debate about how long it should take to arrive in F1. Verstappen went straight in from F3, Lewis took a few more steps. You're doing it more like him, F3, GP3, F2, you're not straight from F3 into F1. I can't help but feel that these extra couple of steps are a good idea.

Yes. It depends on the driver; I think some people adapt very quickly, not not all of them.

It depends also on how you look at things. With my manager, Nicolas, we think that if one day I want to go into F1, I want to be 200% ready and that's what we hare aiming for. That's why we did so many steps in the junior categories. I did one year in more or less every category that was useful to arrive in F1. And looking back at it I think we did well. This year I feel more ready than I've ever been, a lot of experience. So yeah, looking back at things I wouldn't change anything. I'm very happy with how we solved things and how we managed my career until now.

Last year you got a taste of F1, driving Friday FP1 for Haas at several races. But to get a taste of F1 before F2 is good because you know where you're aiming for, where the next step looks like?

Definitely. But I also thought there's a positive part and a negative part to that situation I was in. Doing an FP1 at the same weekend as a GP3 weekend for me wasn't the best thing we could've done,b ecause F1 and GP3 are two completely different cars and to be honest to go from F1 to GP3 in the same weekend has been very, very hard to manage last year.

But working with an F1 team and working with people, drivers like Romain [Grosjean] who has huge experience has been very helpful for me. To see how they work, to see the little details that maybe you don't put much importance on when you're younger actually seeing the F1 drivers mentioning it and taking a long time to analyse it in the briefings helped me usually to check every little detail and to try to improve absolutely everything. That has helped me massively.

But the plus is that it must have made you more adaptable, whcih is a really important quality in F1. The top F1 drivers all need to be adaptable.

Right. I think it also made me a bit weaker in the middle part of the GP3 season when I did that because going from F1 to GP3 I struggled to come back from F1 to GP3. I think I could have done better.

That's interesting; were you honest with yourself while it was going on and telling those around 'I'm struggling with this transition?'

Oh yeah completely, I said to the team in GP3 that I wasn't taking 100% of the car and I still believe that I didn't, in this middle part, I didn't show the best of myself and it's a shame. But I think we have learned from it and yeah, this year if we have the possibility to do some FP1s at the middle of this year I wouldn't take it. I'm very happy to be in this position I'm in now.

I bet you are. Just 100% focused on winning the championship.

Exactly, and I'm very happy about this to have managed to have a fully focused season middle of the season, for now here in F2 and don't think about anything else apart from F2.

How would you describe this championship that you're in? There's some pretty good drivers around, there's a few that have been here for a few years. Not that many rookies apart from you, how would you describe driving in this championship?

I think obviously the drivers in F2 are very talented I mean drivers like Oliver Rowland or Alex Albon are very talented and in F2, (formerly GP2) I think we are seeing many times that experienced drivers are taking a bit the upper hand off the talented drivers in this category because obviously with the tyres, it's quite difficult to understand them.

Pirelli is quite a huge step compared to every Formula we've had before and yeah to a driver it's quite hard to learn all of this very quickly. Luckily I have a great team this year who are helping me to learn the car very quickly and yeah, to be honest it wasn't my weakest point of adapting to cars quickly. I've always been quite OK with [Adapting to the tyres].

In Bahrain I remember you'd learned a lot in the first race about how to manage the tyres as you had not quite got it right and since then you've really got it right pretty much every time

I'm still learning right now but the first two weeks I've learned a huge amount.

For the degradation, in Bahrain it was the worst track of the season for the tyre degradation, so to start for this one as the first race was very hard. But I think we managed quite well with the third place and then a nice strategy in the sprint race to win.

It's definitely part of the learning programme of this year and we knew it would be so.

Obviously quite a few drivers have been in your position, won the final step of the ladder and not got further. You got on the radar with a lot of people in F1, the Ferrari driver academy and the right manager. Do you worry a little bit about whether the journey continues or do you feel like you do the best you do on the track and leave the rest of it to the people around you to make it happen?

I think I'm in a lucky place and I'm lucky enough to have very good surroundings that are taking care of my career. Ferrari obviously are amazing and are supporting me and trying to find solutions for me next year and I have an amazing manager that is Nicolas, helping me since 2011 and I'm giving my- I never know this word in English – confiance.

Faith.

Yes, exactly. I'm giving my total faith to them for them to find me a place, which is very good because I just have to focus on driving and I feel very lucky to be in this position because I believe not many drivers are in this position to be able to fully have faith in their surroundings.

Would you say from your experience, your journey, you're looking at people coming up behind you that F2 is an important step. Lance Stroll and Max Verstappen have jumped it, quite a few people have, but is this an important step for you?

Yeah definitely, I think the F2 cars are definitely the closest to F1, the drivers are a lot more experienced as I said and you can always learn anyway but obviously I think in this category it's one of the categories I've learned the most. Especially with the degradation of the tyre you don't have anything similar before it and yeah I think the biggest aspect is the degradation of the tyre that is very helpful for the future because in F1 it is a big factor and to learn and to make experience with this car, this year, is very important.

Finally, I've noticed that you don't make very many mistakes. I didn't watch all of your races earlier on, is that something you've always had or something you've had to work on as you've gotten higher up in the category

I think that came a little bit with the mentality, to stay calm in the difficult situations, to avoid stupid errors in the difficult situations, that helped me to be a bit stronger and obviously during the last two years I became a lot more strong mentally and that helped me to avoid making stupid mistakes as I was doing before.

#series:f2 #year:2017 #format:interview

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chibrary · 6 months

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source: twitter series: f2, 2017

#format:socialmedia #series:f2 #year:2017 #driver:lewis

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chibrary · 7 months

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I would love to know more about Charles whipping with guanyu Zhou like where when what how 🧐

This video was originally posted by Guanyu on Xiaokaxiu-- a Chinese application that looks like a pre-cursor to Tiktok-- sometime in 2017.

The third person dancing is Enzo Fittipaldi, who offered to help remake it last year:

(There was no response from Charles or Guanyu, but Guanyu did react to the original video for social media earlier this year.)

They spent a lot of time together in 2017 as members of the Ferrari Driver Academy AND Prema.

It seems like they did a lot of dancing that year:

youtube

#year:2017 #series:f2 #driver:guanyu #topic:question

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chibrary · 1 year

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title: "lando norris wants to prove he's on par with ferrari's leclerc" source: caleb jacobs, thedrive.com format: article season: 2017, f2

"Lando Norris, the 18-year-old McLaren junior who was recently announced as the team's reserve driver, has made his rivalry with Ferrari's Charles LeClerc clear. The latter showed dominance in GP2 this past season, taking the overall crown and perhaps earning himself a spot in Formula 1 next year with Sauber. While the Monaco-born Maranello driver has stolen the show, Norris tells that he's not to be outshined, saying that he plans to prove his skills in F2 next year.

Lando Norris will make his debut in the Formula 1 support series come 2018. His success as a GP3 champion foreshadowed his abilities to the rest of the racing community including his Woking bosses, something that he intends to capitalize on shortly. With a one-and-done campaign planned for Norris next year in F2, he'll work to earn his spot in the top tier of motorsport by 2020.

“I would expect to win if I win [races as a rookie],” said Norris. “Leclerc has done it this year so if I want to beat or prove I’m just as a good then I’m going to have to win.

“I think that’s the main thing – I don’t think there’s any point in going for second or third."

[...] As for LeClerc, he is expected to be included in Sauber's January driver team announcement. He could possibly be joined by Antonio Giovinazzi, another European formula racing star, transitioning into the sport at just 20-years-old."

#driver:lando #series:f2 #year:2017 #format:article #topic:rivalry

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chibrary · 1 year

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source: rosa elena torres, paddock magazine (original article deleted) format: interview season: 2017, f2

Being from Monaco, it’s fairly natural that you’ve been in some contact with Formula 1, but why did you choose to become a driver?

My father was a racing driver. One day I’ve tried karting and, to be honest, I fell in love with the sport instantly. I liked it so much that I knew that’s what I wanted to do in life, but apart from that there wasn’t a particular reason to go into Formula 1. It’s just a sport that I admire.

There are now several young drivers who are very good in Formula 1, like Verstappen and Ocon; how would you rate yourself among those?

It’s difficult to rate yourself compared to them, because we’ve never raced each other in single-seaters. I’ve raced a lot against them in karting and we were all very close. However, we’ve grown a lot. It’s very important how you grow in these and similar sports; if one day I have the chance to have a car that’s equal to theirs, it would be interesting to see how much progress we’ve all made. For now, it’s really exciting for me to see them doing well in Formula 1.

What are the main differences that you’ve found between your Formula 2 ride and the Formula 1 car you’ve tested?

The two cars are completely different, especially this year – Formula 1 cars have much more downforce. They also have a bit more power, but the downforce level is just incredible compared to let’s say a Formula 3 car.

And the power steering is something that is very different. In Formula 2 you don’t have the precision between the wheels and the steering wheel. In Formula 1 you do. You just need to get used to it. It’s a completely different feeling, but also the fast corners of Formula 1 are quite impressive.

Will you change your workout routine to suit Formula 1 cars?

To be honest, no. I think a Formula 2 car is a lot more physically demanding than a Formula 1 car because Formula 2 doesn’t have power steering and this is a huge physical challenge. I mean, it’s very hard for us in Formula 2 just to turn the steering wheel, whereas in Formula 1 you can just turn it with two fingers.

And will you make any changes in terms of what you’re eating?

I probably won’t, I’ll just work out and eat the way I’ve always done it.

#series:f2 #format:interview #year:2017 #charles leclerc

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chibrary · 1 year

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title: "new f1 rumors suggest formula 2 driver leclerc could be in a sauber for 2018" source: gabriel loewenberg, thedrive.com format: article season: 2017, f2

"...

With the renewed Ferrari deal for 2018, there has been a lot of chatter about Formula 2 championship leader Charles Leclerc getting a spot at Sauber. Leclerc is a Ferrari Academy driver and a reserve driver for the Ferrari F1 team, so he's almost there. With the masterful skills he's shown this year in Formula 2, there is little doubt that he'll get an F1 seat next year.

As Leclerc recently said to Italian newspaper Corriere della Sera, “The big dream is to wear red and I hope that one day it will become reality. But I also think of everything, as long as it is F1.”

Wisely, he seems to be keeping his options open. There is no doubt that several teams will be interested in talking to him, but not all them will have a seat available.

In the past, Leclerc had been rumored to be in line for a seat at Haas. But Haas has said they are keeping their driver line-up as is. Red Bull won't have a seat open. Torro Rosso might, but that would mean driving for a non-Ferrari team. Ferrari would be very keen to keep him in the family. (Oddly, there have also been rumors of Toro Rosso making the switch to Ferrari for next season. This is doubtful, but would certainly be something to keep an eye on.) Mercedes should be keeping Valtteri Bottas around, so that isn't an option for Leclerc.

So as far as keeping him close to the vest as a Ferrari Academy driver, the options are Sauber or Ferrari. The factory spot is obviously the preferred choice for any driver. If Ferrari will even have an open seat, however, has yet to be determined. Kimi Raikkonen is the wild card here. The first half of the season, he seemed very lackluster, especially considering how well Sebastian Vettel was doing. But now, Raikkonen seems to have had a moment of clarity. He's driving better and fighting for wins.

Maybe he knows his seat is at risk. This is Kimi Raikkonen we're talking about. He'll do whatever he feels like doing. If he wants to drive, he'll drive. If he's not feeling it, he'll just meander around the track, mumbling on the radio. Maybe that's a little harsh, but it's not untrue. Raikkonen is one of the most popular drivers in the sport because of the lack of care he gives about anything. But that laissez-faire attitude seems to be wearing thin at Ferrari.

Historically, Ferrari hasn't signed too many rookie drivers. It's not the Ferrari way. They want their drivers to be seasoned and mature. But maybe this is the time that they break with tradition if Raikkonen doesn't stay around for 2018.

Sauber would be very keen to get their hands on a driver of Leclerc's caliber. It would do wonders for the team. They have been struggling for years now, always seeming to be on the cusp of a breakthrough only to have it never materialize. Part of that problem has been the team's driver line-up. They never seem to get the right people in the car at the right time.

Leclerc would be the right person at the right time for Sauber. The team is under new leadership. Their new engine deal will get them current Ferrari engines, rather than the year-old power units they use now. Leclerc and Wehrline should prove to make a competitive pair, as they are both highly rated young drivers.

On paper, this would be the route to take for Leclerc to cut his teeth in Formula One. It's still a risky move for a rookie driver. The team has not had much success in recent years. Getting stuck at a floundering team can be a career killer for an up-and-coming driver. But helping to turn around a team like Sauber just raises a driver's stock price.

Where Leclerc ends up will largely be up to Ferrari. Will there be a race seat open at the team, and if so, who else would Ferrari be willing to sign? Realistically, there aren't many current F1 drivers who might be available that Ferrari would grab.

Leclerc is due to drive for Ferrari at the test this week. Before the recent developments with Sauber, the test was looking like more of an audition. Over at Sauber, F2 driver Nobuharu Matsushita will be testing with them this week. Matsushita is a test and development driver for McLaren-Honda. When Sauber was slated to get Honda engines for next year, Matsushita testing for them made sense. Now, it's something of an oddity. Where Matsushita had been rumored to maybe get a drive at Sauber next year, that seems all but off the table now.

Eventually, all will be revealed. But for now, silly season is in full swing. "

#year:2017 #series:f2 #format:article

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