Jean Todt's son shares the story of how Charles Leclerc was discovered as a 14-year-old

Motor racing executive Jean Todt's son, Nicolas Todt, recently shared a story about how he met young Charles Leclerc for the very first time, when the latter was only 14 years old. Like any other F1 driver, Leclerc also came up the ranks by racing go-karts in various regional competitions before racing in F1 feeder series. Though he was not instantly recognized as a future F1 driver, he certainly showed signs of it.

Speaking in an interview with Track Limits, Todt junior started off by explaining how he and Jules Bianchi were very good friends. Bianchi was also good friends with Enzo Leclerc, Charles Leclerc's elder brother. Nicolas narrated:

"All that started from my personal relationship with Jules. Jules' best friend was Charles' elder brother, Enzo. So they were very close. And even early, Jules became a little bit of a racing Godfather of Charles."

Since Jules Bianchi was a Godfather to Charles Leclerc, he urged Nicolas Todt to meet Leclerc. At the time, Bianchi was in GP2, while young Leclerc was racing go-karts. Jean Todt's son went on:

"And while I was helping Jules, I think he was in GP2 at the time, he [Jules] told me, 'I have the younger brother [Charles] of my best friend, Enzo, who is racing in go karts; he is very good. They don't really have the budget to go higher in karting. I think that you should meet him and help him because I think he is worth watching.'"

"And so, my first reaction was to say, 'Yes, I would love to meet him out of friendship for you, Jules.' So the first time I met him was with his dad. I knew he was a good karting driver, but I did not know that he would become a vice-world champion in 2022."

Nicolas Todt had his eyes on Charles Leclerc as he moved up the ranks and became one of the best racing drivers on the F1 grid today, driving for Ferrari. He eventually became Leclerc's manager as well.

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Charles Leclerc is happy with his race wins in 2022 but wants to win more with Ferrari

Charles Leclerc had his best F1 season in 2022. The Monagasque finished second in the drivers' championship. Unfortunately, he and his team were unable to continue this streak in 2023 as they fell even further behind. Nonetheless, he is determined to win more with Ferrari.

In a recent interview with Corriere Della Sera, he said:

"They were [2022 wins] beautiful, but I didn't enjoy them. The memory of 2022 is too fresh. We must not settle for a second or third place. Ferrari deserves to win and we must lead them to win."

Charles Leclerc is currently fifth in the drivers' championship table with only 99 points.