Ferrari star Charles Leclerc equals Lewis Hamilton Padawan Valtteri Bottas’ unwanted F1 record

Charles Leclerc is now on a level with Valterri Bottas' record of having the most F1 poles but zero driver's titles. Both drivers have secured 20 poles overall during their careers and are yet to win a Driver's Championship.

Bottas had a reason. He played the role of a team player who wanted to help the team win rather than compete with his teammate. During his five-year tenure at Mercedes, Bottas was one of the best No. 2 drivers who helped Lewis Hamilton win four out of five championships.

Bottas has shown promising performances during qualifying races, sometimes outperforming Hamilton himself. However, none of those poles ever converted to wins in a season.

Meanwhile, Charles Leclerc has the potential and talent to outperform any driver, even in an imperfect car. He has shown that he is world champion material in numerous races where the condition of his car stands at odds against him.

He has clocked impressive lap times during qualifying and secured pole position but was not able to convert enough of those chances to land him a championship.

Charles Leclerc has the potential but fails to convert it into a win

Charles Leclerc F1 Grand Prix of Belgium - Practice & Qualifying

Charles Leclerc is one of the most talented and promising drivers on the grid. He brought points to Ferrari early in his career when he was paired with four-time world champion Sebastian Vettel.

However, his career trajectory was rather inconsistent, as he was never able to convert any of his qualifying wins to race wins in any season. There are plenty of problems that have played out against his consistent efforts.

These range from unreliable cars to bad team strategy. There have been instances when there were goof-ups in timing pit stops, choosing the right tyres, or Leclerc running into barriers.

One of the season's most disappointing races for Charles Leclerc was in Monaco in 2021. The Ferrari driver set the fastest time in qualifying but crashed later on. Though the damages were repaired, Leclerc had to retire the car in the garage.

F1 has had qualifying specialists and many drivers who were frustrated and unlucky in races. In the 1980s, Rene Arnoux had 18 career poles but only managed to win seven races. He had a good pace but a fragile turbocharged Renault when he was at his best.

Charles Leclerc is the first driver in F1 history to win the pole position in two qualifying sessions on the same weekend. He didn’t come close to winning either race — the story of his career.