Amid the frenzy he’s caused in and outside in Milan tonight, I grab Leclerc for a quick chat about the rest of a season that’s all to play for—starting with the Monza Grand Prix.
GQ: Outside, wow! Absolute scenes for you!
Charles Leclerc: [laughs] It’s crazy. That’s what is so special about Monza and Italy. There’s so much passion and there are so many young people, which is really nice for the sport. The support for Ferrari is unbelievable.
How is it sharing the limelight with your dog, Leo, now? He got a pretty big cheer when he arrived too.
Oh, really? I didn’t hear, but I know that he has so many [fans] already. One of my best friends went to walk him the other day and he told me that he couldn’t walk more than 50 meters because people keep stopping him. Recognizing a dog is a whole new level. I didn’t know it was possible. But yeah, Leo is the best thing that I have had in my life for a long time.
With McLaren now seemingly the team to beat, has Lando Norris been on the text about how quick his car is?
Yeah. It was a surprise to see them win by such a margin [at the Dutch Grand Prix], but now it’s been quite a few races where they’ve been consistently the car to beat. So yeah, I’ll say McLaren has even overtaken Red Bull, which was something unexpected going into this season.
The goal for every driver is to make the season as boring as possible and dominate absolutely everything. However, stepping back from this, when you see three, four, five, six drivers fighting for a win and you’ve got that unexpected part of the sport where it really plays on whoever is going to take the most risk, that’s what makes me love this sport so much. We need that in Formula 1 and in a season like this, there’s more and more of that. I hope it continues—but not for long. I hope Ferrari can then dominate for many years.
It’s Monza this weekend—what is the craziest thing that’s happened to you as a Ferrari driver there?
Many, many crazy things. Last year on Saturday night at midnight, I was starting to go to sleep but I could hear extremely loud people just singing my name. I opened the window of my hotel room and there were like 200 people. I think they woke up the whole hotel but it was a really cool moment.
Where does Monza rank in terms of your favorite tracks to race at?
The track itself is really cool because there are a lot of overtaking opportunities and that makes it special, but it is not my favorite. However, as a Ferrari driver, everything that is around the track is probably the best of the whole season because it feels incredible and it motivates you so much going into the weekend.
You finished fourth last year–are you hoping for better this year?
Anything that I didn’t win, I don’t remember.
So F1 is all about winning races?
For me it’s not such a big deal to be on a podium. A win is what motivates me. Whenever you win, it’s a win not only for me, but the thousands of people back in Maranello that are sacrificing time with their family and with their loved ones. The emotions are multiplied and that’s what makes it so special.
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