Formula 1: Martin Brundle hails Leclerc's transition from 'polite Harry Potter' to aggressive race winner

Charles Leclerc

Brundle hails Leclerc's transition from 'polite Harry Potter' to aggressive race winner

The boy who lived...and won.

Martin Macdonald

Tuesday 10 September 2019 18:32

Martin Brundle reckons Charles Leclerc is like a completely different person when not driving, saying he changes from “Harry Potter’s polite younger brother” to a racer whose “elbows have razor blades”.

Leclerc is known to be a quiet, polite 21-year-old away from the track, and is usually soft-spoken when in interviews.

However, in the two races since the summer break he has been superb with a more focused, no-nonsense attitude, winning both in Belgium and in Italy, going wheel-to-wheel with Lewis Hamilton in a superb battle which left the Brit complaining about his rival cutting across his path.

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Brundle is happy with the transition, though, even if Lewis didn’t like the aggressivity of Leclerc.

“Monza was a tense thriller with a fairytale ending,” he wrote in his Sky Sports column.

“Charles Leclerc may appear to be Harry Potter's polite younger brother but in combat his elbows have razor blades, he grows horns at 200mph, and his head appears to be as strong as the carbon fibre Ferrari chassis he steered to a glorious victory on home ground in front of the ecstatic Tifosi in Monza.”

While the Monegasque driver led, he was hunted down all race by Hamilton and team-mate Valtteri Bottas, while he received no help from Sebastian Vettel who was languishing further back after receiving a time penalty.

Brundle is impressed with how Leclerc handled the Mercedes duo.

“From pole position he just maintained the lead in to turn one,” he continued.

“And for the next 53 laps he would have to absorb everything the mighty Mercedes team could muster to outflank him, two against one as his Ferrari team-mate Seb Vettel made yet another error by spinning off and then attracting an effective half-minute penalty by rejoining dangerously.”