Charles Leclerc has quietly climbed to a peculiar place in Ferrari history: he’s now second on the team’s all-time list for Formula 1 starts, behind only Michael Schumacher.
That’s the sort of milestone that tends to get wrapped in nostalgia and stat-padding. Leclerc, though, didn’t have much time for it when it was put to him in Miami. The number matters insofar as it underlines how long he’s been living this Ferrari life — and how little of it, in his own eyes, counts for what he actually wants.
He moved beyond Kimi Räikkönen’s Ferrari start tally earlier this season in China, taking his total to 154 Grands Prix in red. Schumacher’s 180 is now the obvious reference point, and on the current trajectory Leclerc would reel it in around mid-2027. But the fixation with “most experienced Ferrari driver” is exactly the kind of label he’s trying to dodge.
“It’s strange,” Leclerc said, when the statistic was raised. “I still feel very young, and I remember my first year in Ferrari just like yesterday, but it’s special.
“I love the team. I’ve grown up in this team even before I was a Formula 1 driver for Ferrari. I was in the Ferrari Driver Academy, so they saw me grow up and not only as a driver, but also as a person, so it’s a very special place to drive for.”
That’s the affectionate version — the one Ferrari likes, too. The Academy graduate, the home-grown star, the continuity in a team that’s rarely been patient enough to cultivate it. But the next sentence was the one that cut through the warm glow.
“But I wouldn’t love to be remembered as the most experienced driver of Ferrari,” he added. “I would love to be remembered as a world champion for Ferrari and this is still to be done. That’s where my focus is at.”
It’s hard to miss the subtext. Leclerc has been around long enough now that the “future” part of his story is starting to sound like an excuse. He arrived with that ‘Il Predestinato’ aura — the prodigy Ferrari would build around — and the raw numbers look respectable: 27 poles and eight wins for the team. Yet for all the Saturdays he’s lit up, the defining Ferrari Sunday still hasn’t come. Not over a full season, not with a title genuinely within reach deep into the autumn.
Leclerc even admitted he hadn’t been tracking the start-count at all, which is probably the most believable thing a driver can say about a record like this. These are the statistics that find you, not the other way round.
“I didn’t really know about this stat, actually,” he said. “I’m not really looking forward to becoming the first, but I just want to win a world championship.
“That’s what I’m trying and working for every day and I hope that this day will come.”
In pure competitive terms, 2026 has at least opened the door to that conversation again. After the early rounds he sits third in the standings on 59 points, with two podiums already banked. It’s not the kind of breakout that forces the paddock to rewrite its expectations overnight, but it’s enough to keep Leclerc in the frame — and it’s enough to give his comments real edge. He’s not talking like someone ticking off another year. He’s talking like someone who knows time can start to turn on you in this job.
Because the awkward truth about Ferrari milestones is that they can feel like consolation prizes. Starts, poles, even wins — they’re all evidence of belonging. Ferrari’s true immortality, though, is reserved for the champions. The team hasn’t had one since Räikkönen in 2007, and Leclerc knows exactly what column his name still hasn’t reached.
He may be closing in on Schumacher’s record in terms of appearances, but he isn’t chasing Schumacher in the way that really counts. That’s the point. If Leclerc ends up as Ferrari’s most enduring presence of the modern era without the championship to show for it, the stat will read less like greatness and more like a reminder of what never materialised.
For now, he’s still got the chance to steer his story away from that. The starts will keep coming. The question is whether the season ever lines up in a way that lets him turn longevity into legacy — the kind Ferrari drivers are actually judged on.
