Formula 1: Charles Leclerc is on a blistering pace by Sauber standards

In the last five Formula 1 races, Charles Leclerc has scored as many points as his Sauber teammate, Marcus Ericsson, has scored in his entire career.

Alfa Romeo Sauber’s Charles Leclerc, a 20-year-old member of the Ferrari Driver Academy, entered the 2018 Formula 1 season as a rookie. He was the 2016 GP3 Series champion and the 2017 Formula 2 champion, and he had never driven in Formula 1 before.

Leclerc’s first three starts in Formula 1 were a bit rocky. He finished in 13th, 12th and 19th place in the Australian Grand Prix, the Bahrain Grand Prix and the Chinese Grand Prix, respectively, to open up his rookie season.

Meanwhile, his teammate, Marcus Ericsson, was entering his fifth season in Formula 1 and his fourth season as a driver for Sauber. He entered the season having driven in 76 Formula 1 races. In those 76 races, he had racked up five top 10 finishes and scored nine points.

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In the second race of the season, the Bahrain Grand Prix, Ericsson finished in ninth place and scored two points as a result of it. He had not scored any points since he scored two points by finishing in ninth in the 2015 Italian Grand Prix.

Meanwhile, with Leclerc having finished the Bahrain Grand Prix in 12th place behind Ericsson, a lot of people questioned whether or not the hype surrounding the Monegasque driver was all for nothing.

Over the course of the last five races, Leclerc, who sits in a 13th place tie in the Formula 1 driver standings, has proved that it wasn’t.

In the last five races, Leclerc has been on a torrid pace in Sauber terms. He has done what no Sauber driver has done since the 2013 season, he has done what all Sauber drivers combined to do in their 96 combined races leading up to his first career Formula 1 points finish, and he has done what Ericsson has done throughout the first 84 races of his Formula 1 career.

Leclerc has recorded four top 10 finishes and scored 11 points in the last five races. The last time a Sauber driver recorded four top 10 finishes in five races was in the 2013 season when Nico Hulkenberg finished four consecutive races in the top 10.

Prior to Leclerc’s first career Formula 1 points finish, which was his career-high sixth place finish in the fourth race of the 2018 season, the Azerbaijan Grand Prix, Sauber drivers had scored 11 points in their last 96 combined races. Meanwhile, in 84 career Formula 1 races, Ericsson has scored 11 points.

Given the success that Leclerc has experienced and the torrid pace that he is on as a Sauber driver, there have been rumors that he will replace Kimi Raikkonen at Scuderia Ferrari next season. In fact, it was revealed last week that Ferrari are ready to replace Raikkonen with him in 2019.

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Will Charles Leclerc continue to rack up points in his rookie Formula 1 season? Will he drive for Ferrari next season as Kimi Raikkonen’s replacement?

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