EXCLUSIVE: Charles Leclerc Discusses Season Ahead As He Celebrates Shell Partnership

Ahead of the F1 season, I was lucky enough to talk with Ferrari driver Charles Leclerc about the challenges the Maranello team face this year. While we touched on the record-breaking season ahead, car development, and the changes happening within F1, we also wanted to bring attention to the strong partnership between the Scuderia and Shell Motorsport.

Shell has been synonymous with Ferrari since its partnership began in the late 1920s, and the iconic logo has been seen against the scarlet red of Ferrari's cars since the Formula One World Championship was established in 1950, celebrating their first race win together just a year later. 

This partnership, while legendary, also promotes a better future, as both brands invest heavily in the future of transportation and sustainable powertrains both on and off the track. I was able to get Charles' view on an all-electric future, but it's no surprise that more cylinders running on carbon-neutral fuels are his preferred outcome. 

Ferrari F1 Team / Shell

Alex Harrington: Have you got plans for a steep development curve early in the season to try to fend off the Red Bulls?

Charles Leclerc: I think first of all we are in a better place compared to last compared to a year ago, where a year ago we put the car on the ground and the car wasn't behaving the way we expected it to behave.

So it was a bit difficult to understand from where the problem was starting, and we have identified that later in the [2023] season. And from that moment onwards, we could focus on the development of the car as soon as we understood what was wrong with this car. Whereas this year, there's nothing that is wrong with the car.

At least it's doing everything that we expected, which is a good starting point. And we can straight away focus on the development of the car, which gives me confidence that the rate of development will be better compared to last year, so that's that's good. Yeah, we've had some problems on the braking system on my side in in Bahrain, which are still being investigated. We'll look into it. And obviously this is a priority to work to resolve.

AH: What are your thoughts on the new sprint weekend format?

CH: It's something that I like as a driver because, now in Formula One, we've got FP1, FP2, FP3, where you haven't got anything really to play or challenge for apart from learning about your car, which is always nice. But competition is what I love most. So to have a very important session straight away on a Friday, it's something I like, and I think the changes will make it better as well, just because we've got now the chance to change the car after the sprint race, which is a good thing. Because I feel like sometimes when you are getting it wrong, or if you had a bad one then you had no way to recover, which now, it will be a bit better.

AH: How have your preparations changed considering the longer season?

CH: I don't think my preparation differs that much, actually. I think it's always the same preparation. I always try to be as ready as I can be, to be the best athlete possible outside the car as well as inside the car. And this remains the same preparation. I think where it changes slightly - it's the time management, what I do with my free time in between the races. Obviously, with 24 races, you need to be 100 percent from the first race to the last race.

And so what you do in between races is even more so important. So logistics, by example, we might want to stay in between two races instead of coming back home and travelling all the time. These kinds of things are super, super important in order to optimise the time that we have left to always deliver at our best. 

AH: The Las Vegas Grand Prix is the beginning of a triple header and only one week before the Qatar Grand Prix - should F1 be listening more to the drivers regarding the gaps between races when they ask for more time to recover from jet lag, etc?

CH: I don't know. I think it's always a compromise between what Formula 1 needs and wants and what the teams obviously have to be looking at to mostly take care of the guys that are working in the paddock. So this is a continuous discussion. I have no doubt that the best compromise are trying to be found. However, there's still things that we can optimise for sure.

AH: Do you think enough is being done for drivers getting into F1 via feeder series such as Formula 2?

CH: Well, to be honest on that, I think as a sport, as a global sport, we need to do better in order to give the opportunity. For more people to try and to actually have a career all the way up to Formula 1 because it's a very expensive sport, and on that, there's a lot of work to be done and there's still a lot to be done for for this. Then in that particular step from Formula 2 to Formula 1, I think this is...  I mean, it's good enough in a way that in Formula 2 you have a great platform to show your talents.

And then if you are good enough, you get to Formula 1 and you have a chance in Formula 1. However, it is true also that at the moment, in Formula 1, there are quite a lot of talented drivers and so it's difficult to find a place, but, yeah, I wouldn't add more seats to the grid.

But I'm sure that as soon as a young driver will show his true potential. Like it's been the case also in the past year. I think it's the first year in the whole history of that we have the exact same grid from one year to another. But I'm sure that young drivers will join Formula One soon, as I see, there are two, three extremely talented drivers in Formula Two already.

AH: Shell is working towards a carbon-neutral future to align with F1's targets as well. Would you prefer to be using carbon-neutral synthetic fuels, but on larger engines like V8s, V10s like the past, or the hybrid setup you currently use? 

CH: No, to have 100 per cent sustainable fuel running on V8, V10s could be really, really cool. There's a lot of work for that. Formula One has been pushing a lot on that. I think Formula One have always been pioneers in these new technologies and being a game changer in the whole automotive industry.

And I think it's a great opportunity for us to do that. So together we share, we are working a lot. I mean, it's more the Shell scientists and engineers that are working on those changes in the future, But it's a continuous collaboration, which is working great and that I hope won't only change our sport, but will change the world as a whole for a better place.

And if with all of that, we can also have cars that are sounding even better in the future being fully sustainable, then I'm all for it.

AH: How do you work with Shell's technical team throughout the season to optimize your performance, but also to help Shell bring products to the public? Can you give me an example of how you do that?

CH: Well, it's a continuous discussion. Obviously, we have the track lab that Shell is sending to every track we go to, and they are very close to our car. So whenever we get out of the car, sometimes we jump by and we discuss straight away with the engineers that Shell sends on track in order for us to understand exactly what we can do better in terms of drivability by example, which is what we are most involved in. 

Because at the end, it's the human and the machine and I'm the driver and obviously Shell takes care about giving us the best fuel and oil possible in order for us to perform at our best. So it's a continuous discussion on what are the last fine details we can improve together as well as discussing with all the engineers of the team more on the reliability side of things. Well, there we might be a bit less involved as drivers. 

AH: Shell and Ferrari's partnership dates back to late twenties. With that in mind, from your perspective and from what you've seen, what makes the partnership between Shell and Ferrari so special? 

CH: I think it's how close and how natural everything feels when we work together. You can really understand how much experience both Ferrari and Shell have in working together. As soon as I got into the team, I did not expect the amount of detail we are looking into for fuel and oil, and to see the team of Shell and Ferrari working together so seamlessly.

So it's really impressive.

AH: The all-electric future is coming - at the moment - and Shell is offering charging for electric vehicles. It's a big push for them. Have you considered an electric vehicle? And if so, what kind of model would you be interested in?

CH: Well, I'm surely very interested in a new Ferrari model that will come up. I don't remember exactly which year it will come out, but I'm very interested in seeing how it will look like, how it will feel like. Because, yeah, one of the solution for the future is electric vehicles.

I still believe in the sustainable fuel as well. But obviously driving for Ferrari, it's always been my dream being part of this team. And the road cars that they make have always made me dream as well. So the first fully electric car from Ferrari is something I'm looking forward to.

And I will hopefully get one.

AH: Season 6 of Drive to Survive has just been released. What are your opinions on how it portrays F1?

CH: I think it has only done really good to Formula One because if you look where was Formula One before Drive to Survive and where it is now, I think it is a huge step forward. And then, of course, sometimes it is a different point of view, I think, in the paddock compared to when you actually live a moment.

However, it is done in a very, very nice way and I think has helped giving a lot of engagement to people that wasn't necessarily into Formula One to understand it from a different point of view, focusing more on the people around the drivers as well, and show a bit more of the personality of the people in the paddock, which I think is a great thing.

And yeah, it's just a different point of view, which I think have helped a lot, the access, to people that wasn't necessarily into Formula 1, but that now are thanks to Drive to Survive. So I think great.

AH: The contract with Silverstone has just been extended for 10 years. With more and more street circuits being added to the calendar, are you happy to see a permanent track like Silverstone stay?

CH: Silverstone is definitely one of my favourite proper tracks, not the city tracks. I love city tracks on my side, but Silverstone is, with Suzuka probably my two favourite tracks.

So I'm really happy that it stays. I think it's a great track with so much history and we shall keep racing there. So I'm really happy that they've renewed.

Thank you to Shell for organising this interview with Sports Illustrated.