Charles Leclerc, known as 'Il Predestinato', emerged as a young talent in F1, inspiring hopes for Ferrari amidst its long title drought. The nickname was coined by Carlo Vanzini, stemming from a media training event where Leclerc confidently asserted his ambition to win. His journey includes significant challenges, often attributed to Ferrari's performance issues rather than his skills. The hiring of Frédéric Vasseur as team principal in 2023 has begun to stabilize the team, leading to Leclerc's impressive point scoring towards the end of 2024, underscoring his potential as a future champion.
Vanzini's repetition of Il Predestinato during his commentary of Leclerc's first two victories with Ferrari in 2019 ensured the nickname stuck. There was hope throughout Italy that the predestined one -- Ferrari's homegrown talent who joined its academy in 2015 and won the Italian Grand Prix four years later -- might finally put an end to a drivers' title drought that stretches back to 2007.
The arrival of Frédéric Vasseur as team principal in 2023 has helped flatten out Ferrari's roller-coaster form, but it was only towards the end of last year that things really started to click into place.
Even before he first raced for Ferrari in Formula 1, Charles Leclerc had earned the nickname Il Predestinato -- the Predestined One. Italy's longstanding commentator Carlo Vanzini claims to have coined the moniker when a teenage Leclerc, who was part of the Ferrari Driver Academy at the time, visited Sky Italy for media training as part of his progression towards F1.
Leclerc's struggle to do so during his Ferrari career is more fairly attributed to team's failings than his own. Over the final 10 races of 2024, Leclerc scored more points than any other driver on the grid.
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