Charles Leclerc is the Monégasque whose 2017 FIA Formula 2 title is remembered as one of the most dominant rookie campaigns in the category's history, and the season that confirmed him as a future Formula 1 star.
Formula 2
Leclerc arrived in the inaugural 2017 Formula 2 season with PREMA Racing as a Ferrari Driver Academy member, fresh from winning the 2016 GP3 title. What followed was a masterclass. He took pole position on debut at Sakhir, finished third in the feature race, then opted for a mid-race stop in the reverse-grid sprint and carved through the field, passing 13 drivers in nine laps for his maiden F2 win. From there he was untouchable.
He ended the year with seven victories and seven pole positions, finishing 72 points clear of the experienced Artem Markelov and becoming the fourth driver to win the GP2/F2 title in a rookie season. He clinched it at Yas Marina despite suffering race-ending damage himself, and dedicated the championship to his late godfather Jules Bianchi, whose name, alongside that of his father Hervé, he carries on his helmet. The campaign was as much an emotional milestone as a sporting one.
After F2
The title earned Leclerc a Sauber F1 seat for 2018 and, a year later, a promotion to Ferrari, where he became a multiple grand prix winner and the team's emotional standard-bearer, including a long-awaited home win at Monaco in 2024. His 2017 F2 season remains the template for how a Ferrari junior should announce himself.