F1: 5 things you need to know about Ferrari’s 2019 driver Charles Leclerc

#3 He was best friends with Jules Bianchi

Charles Leclerc and Jules Bianchi

The French connection may well have been responsible for bringing these two talented drivers together, but despite their age difference, Leclerc was very close childhood friends with the late Jules Bianchi, often crediting him as the reason he got into racing.

Being from Monaco, Leclerc had friends from nearby Nice, where Bianchi came from. After being signed up by the Ferrari academy himself, Bianchi tragically died following an accident in his Marussia car back in 2015. Leclerc dedicated his own performance at Monaco to his idol and his family earlier this year.