New dad Leclerc delighted: I’ve always wanted to be a young dad

Charles Leclerc was called in for a dressing-down by his boss Frédéric Vasseur shortly after arriving in Brazil, as the team principal discussed the incident in Mexico with his drivers. Although the Monegasque driver was in the dock after last weekend, nothing could dampen his spirits. The birth of his daughter Bianca overshadowed both the fallout from Mexico and Ferrari’s rather lacklustre pace at the start of the Brazilian weekend.

The new father lit up at the mention of his little treasure, flashing the smile that millions of female fans around the world have fallen in love with. Now it will be mainly his little Bianca enjoying that smile. She was born on Tuesday, leaving Charles little time this week to dwell on events in Mexico or prepare for Brazil.

“It’s definitely the most special thing ever. And yeah, you kind of expect it because I’ve always wanted to be a young dad,” said Charles Leclerc with a broad smile. “with Alex [Charles’s wife], we felt like it was the right time.”

“And it’s a very, very special moment. And definitely, yeah, a week I’ll forever remember for all the positive reasons. Then, of course, there’s been other things going on as well, but for me this weekend was all about Bianca, and it’s been incredible,” added the visibly content Monegasque driver.

He had little time to savour the occasion, however, and soon had to get back to work in Brazil. It was not going to be an easy day. Ferrari did not look in good shape, and that applied to both red cars. Leclerc also came close to a potentially very nasty accident when debutant Rafael Câmara blocked him at high speed.

“Yeah, I mean, it happens and it’s no problems. It was a bit of a tight one, but at the end of the day it’s okay,” Charles said of the incident with the Haas youngster. “Then the FP2 was very tricky, actually one of the, if anything, one of the worst feelings I’ve had this year in the car.”

“So there’s plenty to work on, and it didn’t feel quite right. But I’ve got some ideas. We’ll change the car, I think, quite significantly, and we’ll see how it goes. I hope we can do a step forward because even though I missed FP1, I don’t think there was much performance in that. It’s just the raw pace wasn’t great today,” said Leclerc.