Charles Leclerc has long been touted as a Formula One world champion in the making and the Ferrari driver has emerged as the man to beat this season after a dominant victory in Melbourne.
The 24-year-old from Monaco blew away his rivals at Sunday’s Australian Grand Prix at a revamped Albert Park, starting from pole and taking the chequered flag by more than 20 seconds from Red Bull’s Sergio Perez.
The 2022 campaign is just three races old, but the pace and reliability of Leclerc’s Ferrari—coupled with Max Verstappen’s problems at Red Bull and Lewis Hamilton’s travails at Mercedes — have seen him emerge as early favourite to win a maiden drivers’ title.
Leclerc and Ferrari will have extra motivation, but also pressure, to ram home their advantage in the next race on April 24 because it takes place at Imola in front of their passionate home fans.