The member of the Ferrari Driver Academy, an F3 rookie in 2021, scored his first points of the season in the second sprint race on Saturday and led a Prema 1-2 ahead of teammate Dennis Hauger.
It was the next time the 19-year-old Monagesque comes closest to a home race this season, and he said it was “really special” to celebrate the moment with family and friends as well as the Ferrari F1 team – with the team boss Mattia Binotto brings his congratulations.
Leclerc started from pole on the reverse grid this afternoon after finishing 12th in race one after storming his way through the field from 30th and last place on the grid.
The runner-up in last year’s Formula Regional European Championship, also with Prema, was excluded from qualifying on the first lap after breaking his car over the controversial yellow curb in Turn 2.
“The first victory is of course something very special, especially in this category, because we are many, we are 30 drivers,
“We are all very strong, all teams are very competitive, including the drivers. It feels great to be at the top.
“A weak point on my part, I have to work and concentrate on qualifying to keep getting better and yes, the weekend will be better.”
When asked what his brother said to him afterwards, the younger Leclerc said: “I think he was a bit emotional, so yes, me too. To be honest, we didn’t talk a lot, I just hugged him.
“It was really something special to have my whole family here, my friends are in the stands too, it was a really great feeling and to see how everyone really supports Ferrari is great.
Arthur Leclerc, Prema Racing
Photo by: Formula Motorsport Ltd
“The Ferrari Drivers Academy did a great job with Prema to get me fit to be competitive, so I want to thank them very much.”
Leclerc said he entered the race this morning knowing he had to “exhaust whatever opportunities I get” but he “knew we had the pace straight from FP”.
He said: “I had a bit of bad luck in qualifying, but yeah, it was a really good recovery this morning.
“To be honest, I didn’t expect to come back from so far back on the grid and we made it to P1 this afternoon.
“It was a pretty good start at the beginning, so I was pretty happy with it. Then I struggled a little with pace for the first part of the race to build a gap with Dennis and then after focusing on turning corner after corner to end up defending.
“Then I could fill a gap and manage my tires well, so a pretty good race.”
He will start tomorrow’s feature race from last place.
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