Education
Leclerc graduated to the KF2 category in 2012 with the factory-backed ART Grand Prix team, winning the WSK Euro Series title, as well as finishing runner-up in the CIK-FIA European KF2 Championship and the CIK-FIA Under 18 World Karting Championship. In his final year of karting in 2013, Leclerc claimed sixth position in the CIK-FIA European KZ Championship and finished second in the CIK-FIA World KZ Championship, behind current Toro Rosso Formula One driver Max Verstappen. In 2014, Leclerc graduated to single-seaters, racing in the Formula Renault 2.0 Alps championship for British team Fortec Motorsports.
Career
Like Bianchi, Leclerc joined the ARM management company headed by Nicolas Todt. Karting
Born in Monaco, Leclerc began his karting career in 2005, winning the French PACA Championship in 2005, 2006 and 2008. He continued in the KF3 class for 2011, winning the CIK-FIA KF3 World Cup, the CIK-FIA Karting Academy Trophy and the ERDF Junior Kart Masters.
Formula Renault 2.0
During the season, he took seven podium positions, including a double victory at Monza, to finish runner-up in the championship behind Koiranen General Practice"s Nyck de Vries.
Leclerc also took part in a partial Eurocup Formula Renault 2.0 season with Fortec as a guest driver. In the six races he contested he finished on the podium three times, taking a second place at the Nürburgring followed by a pair of second place finishes at the Hungaroring.
Formula Three
Leclerc graduated to Formula Three in 2015, racing in the FIA European Formula 3 Championship with Dutch team Van Amersfoort Racing. At the opening round of the season in Silverstone, Leclerc inherited Pole position for the second and third races of the weekend after original pole-sitter Felix Rosenqvist was excluded for a technical infringement.
He went on to take his first race victory in the third race of the weekend, ahead of Antonio Giovinazzi and Jake Dennis.
He took his second victory at the following round in Hockenheim, winning the third race as well as taking two additional podiums and three rookie victories over the course of the event. However, Leclerc finished fourth in the standings, mostly due to damage sustained to his car"s chassis following a collision with Lance Stroll at Zandvoort. In November 2015, Leclerc finished second at the Macau Grand Prix.
GP3 Series
In December 2015, Leclerc partook in post-season testing with ART Grand Prix and Arden International.
In February 2016, Nyck de Vries confirmed that Leclerc would race in the 2016 season. ART signed Leclerc the following week.
Formula One
In March 2016, it was announced that Leclerc would be one of two drivers inducted into the Ferrari Driver Academy (of which Bianchi had been a part) and would act as development driver for Haas F1 and Scuderia Ferrari. Career summary
† As Leclerc was a guest driver, he was ineligible for championship points.
Complete FIA European Formula 3 Championship results
(key) (Races in bold indicate pole position) (Races in italics indicate fastest lap).
Membership
During the year, Leclerc also became a member of Nicolas Todt"s All Road Management company.