Charles Leclerc’s Belgian GP win: ‘Success comes with a darker side’

Charles Leclerc demonstrated on Sunday – on the way to his long overdue maiden Formula 1 victory – the strength of character and psychological toughness that is an indispensable part of the make-up of a grand prix driver.

The 21-year-old took a win – at the Belgian Grand Prix under intense pressure from Lewis Hamilton – that should have come many months before against the backdrop of the death of a man he has known and raced against for much of his young life.

When Leclerc took part in his first ever motor race, one of his rivals was Anthoine Hubert, who was killed in an accident of horrific violence in Saturday’s Formula 2 race at the daunting Spa-Francorchamps circuit.

A minute’s silence for Anthoine Hubert was observed on the starting grid before the race

Leclerc said – of himself, Toro Rosso driver Pierre Gasly and Mercedes reserve Esteban Ocon – “we were four kids dreaming of F1 and we have grown up together. To lose him was a very big shock for me and everyone in motorsport and a very sad day”.

Inevitably, it took the shine off what should have been one of the happiest days of Leclerc’s life. To say the least.

“It is very difficult to enjoy this first win with the situation we had yesterday. Overall it means just a dream come true. Since a child, I have been looking up to F1, dreaming of being first a Formula 1 driver, which happened last year and then driving for Ferrari this year and the first win today.

“It is a good day but on the other hand losing Anthoine yesterday brings me back to 2005, my first French (karting) championship was him. It is very difficult to enjoy it fully today but hopefully in two or three weeks I will realise what happened today.”

Dealing with these sorts of events is part of the job description for a racing driver, as explained in my article on Saturday. But that does not make it easy or trivial.

For Leclerc, it is not the first time he has suffered a loss of someone close to him in his career. As is well documented, he was the godson of the former F1 driver Jules Bianchi, who suffered fatal head injuries in an accident at the Japanese Grand Prix nearly five years ago.

Leclerc has described many times how the death of Bianchi – who, at just eight years older than him, was more like a big brother, and who had been instrumental in guiding him through his formative years in the sport – simply made him more determined to succeed.

But it is one thing to say that, and quite another to actually go out and do it, and risk your own life in the same activity that killed someone so close.

On Sunday, after the race, Leclerc, Hamilton and Valtteri Bottas offered some insight into how they do that.

“For everyone, I guess, but for me it was the first situation like that where we lose someone on a track where you need to race the day after,” Leclerc said. “It is obviously quite challenging to close the visor and go through this exact same corner at the same speed you did before, but that is what you have to do in the end.”

Hamilton said: “You compartmentalise it, move forwards, get in and do your job. From a racer’s and an athlete’s point of view, you switch into a zone, and it is quite easy to switch into that zone.”

“When you go to the zone,” Bottas added. “There are no distractions.”

Their answers were short and subdued, and delivered uncomfortably, understandably in the circumstances. Perhaps it pays not to have to talk about it too much, especially when the wounds are so raw, the emotions so tangled and conflicted.

On Saturday, Hamilton had posted an eloquent message on social media, underlining the ever-present dangers of his profession, and how it can never be safe. After the race, his team boss Toto Wolff explained the background to the world champion’s decision to do that.

“It is very difficult to relate to what is happening in a car if you have never driven a race car at these speeds,” Wolff said.

“Whether it is in junior formulae, all the way to F1, in GT cars, or prototypes, it is still a gladiators’ sport. It is still about courage, ability, risk-taking. But through a camera lens you will never realise what it feels like.

“We were fortunate enough for many years to not have these kinds of accidents and maybe forgotten how dangerous the sport is. And this is what Lewis wanted to express. I can totally relate to it.

“If you drive towards Eau Rouge with 260-270km/h, which looks like a 90-degree corner and you take it flat, it is beyond understanding that these guys do what they do and it can end fatally, like it did yesterday.” – bbc.com