This weekend’s Mexican Grand Prix at the Autodromo Hermanos Rodriguez in Mexico City will be the 100th Grand Prix of Charles Leclerc’s Formula 1 career. Provided Leclerc starts the race on Sunday as planned, he will be the 78th driver in the history of Formula 1, which has been written since 1950, to have participated in a three-digit number of races.
“Time has passed very, very quickly,” says Leclerc, who made his racing debut in Formula 1 at the 2018 season opener in Melbourne. “I still remember as if it were yesterday when I competed in Formula 1 for the first time in Australia for Alfa Romeo.”
“That was a very special moment for me because it made a dream come true. And then I was selected by Ferrari as a driver for my second year. That was another dream come true for me,” confesses the 27-year-old from Monegasse.
The mark of 100 Grands Prix is ”of course a special milestone” for Leclerc, which he wants to celebrate on Sunday “hopefully with a special result”. And looking to the future, which for him means Ferrari until at least the end of 2024, he says: “I still have many dreams. Of course, one of them is to become world champion. I hope that becomes reality as soon as possible.”
Comparison: Leclerc vs. Hamilton vs. Verstappen after 99 Grands Prix
But where does Leclerc stand after 99 Grands Prix to date in direct comparison to the current top dogs in the scene: Lewis Hamilton and Max Verstappen? Leclerc has five wins so far, three of them in the current 2022 season. He has also claimed 18 poles and a total of 23 podiums.
Verstappen, the youngest Grand Prix winner, has seven wins, one pole and 28 podiums after 99 Grands Prix. Hamilton has 18 wins, 20 poles and 46 podiums after 99 Grands Prix.
However, it should be said that Hamilton started the 2007 season directly with a top team, namely McLaren. Verstappen began his career in the 2015 season with Toro Rosso. As already mentioned, Leclerc made its debut at Alfa Romeo in 2018.
Hamilton started his rookie season in 2007 with nine consecutive podiums, including two wins. The seven-time world champion is also the only one of the driver trio considered here who already had a world championship title on the threshold of his 100th Grand Prix.