Charles Leclerc recalls heart-wrenching back-story about what he told his father

Charles Leclerc has told an emotional tale about a conversation with his father, shortly before he passed away.

Herve Leclerc died in 2017 while his talented son was en route to winning the Formula 2 title.

Their dream, together, was for Charles to claim a Formula 1 seat.

Charles told his father, incorrectly, that he’d signed an F1 contract, shortly before Herve passed.

“I knew how much it meant for us and we had done all the journey together,” Charles told The Gentleman’s Journal.

“It was very difficult for me to accept that he would go before I actually signed my first F1 contract.

“I was really angry with myself for lying to him at first, but, then, luckily, I signed the actual contract right after he left.

“I was realising my dream, but I was also very happy to not have lied to him at the end of the day.”

Now, Leclerc is a grand prix-winning Ferrari driver who dreams of the championship. This season, he won his home race in Monaco for the first time.

But his F1 journey started by his father’s side.

He recalled another story from his childhood: “I lied to my father that I [felt unwell]. I told him I was ill, but that wasn’t true, I just didn’t want to go to school and he believed me, so he had to keep me with him.

“By coincidence, he had to go to see his best friend, Philippe Bianchi, who was managing a karting track at the time, an hour and a half outside Monaco and I went with him.”

This was Leclerc’s first karting experience.

“From that moment onwards, that’s it, it was clear I wanted to do that,” he said.

Charles remembered: “My father did absolutely everything and showed me all the steps that I had to take in order to get to Formula 1.

“He was so passionate and he obviously wanted the best for me, and as soon as he saw that I liked it, which was his priority, then he made sure that he was giving me the right advice to succeed in this sport.”

Charles has, of course, lost somebody else who played a pivotal role in his F1 journey, and his life - Jules Bianchi, a fellow driver and Charles’ godfather.

“He was actually the son of my father’s best friend who was managing the karting track on that day I first tried it,” Charles said.

“He helped me in my career until, unfortunately, his accident in 2014 in Japan.”

Jules Bianchi died in 2015, aged 25, due to injuries sustained in the 2014 F1 Japanese Grand Prix.

Tributes are regularly paid to him by current drivers including, of course, his godson Charles Leclerc.

“The people I’ve lost were the ones that wanted the best for me, and whenever I asked myself the question ‘what will they want me to do?’ the answer came up pretty quickly that my father would just want me to put the helmet on and go win races,” Charles added.

“You can get ready mentally for many things, especially in my professional life, like how to be focused and relaxed in intense situations.

“But nothing really prepares you for a very difficult personal moment that you need to go through.”