Ferrari F1 star Charles Leclerc crowned 'king of the hooligans'

Charles Leclerc, Ferrari, Montreal, 2025 — Photo: © IMAGO

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Ferrari F1 star Charles Leclerc crowned 'king of the hooligans'

The Monegasque's furious radio exchanges with his race engineer in 2025 have been highlighted

Kevin McKenna

Wednesday 25 June 2025 21:42

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Ferrari F1 star Charles Leclerc has been handed the bizarre title of 'king of of the hooligans' by a respected sports publication.

The Monegasque isn't widely regarded as one of the more temperamental drivers on the grid, but a deep dive into some of his team radio exchanges this season suggest the normally ice-cool racer can occasionally let frustrations get the better of him.

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Bild have ranked each driver on their tendency to demonstrate road rage, with Leclerc's antics singled out for scrutiny.

"The king of the hooligans," it reads. "His race engineer, Bryan Bozzi, is the one who gets it again and again.

"'What the hell did you do?' he asked in Bahrain when his car didn’t work as expected.

"In Imola, after the race tactics were disrupted by a safety car, he complained: 'Unbelievable! I'm always being fooled with these virtual safety cars or safety cars'.

"Later in the race, the pit lane instructed him to let Alex Albon pass. His reaction: 'Is this how racing works these days? It's a f****** joke'.

"In Canada, he discussed his tyres with his pit box several times: 'I don't understand why we stopped? The tyres were good'."

It's been another highly frustrating campaign for Charles Leclerc

Verstappen and Hamilton amongst worst offenders

Defending world champion Max Verstappen's frustrations with his fellow drivers - not least George Russell following their collision at the Spanish Grand Prix - were also noted, as were Lewis Hamilton's tense messages with race engineer Riccardo Adami.

Carlos Sainz, Yuki Tsunoda and Fernando Alonso also received a high rating, perhaps unsurprising considering their early season struggles.

At the other end of the scale, rookie Isack Hadjar and Alpine's Esteban Ocon were deemed to have largely stayed in control of their emotions, as was veteran Nico Hulkenberg.

That may all change this weekend when the drivers get back out on track at the Austrian GP in Spielberg.