Formula 1: Charles Leclerc ranked one of world’s most marketable athletes
By Asher Fair
Formula 1 driver Charles Leclerc was ranked among the most marketable athletes in the world by SportsPro in their annual 50 Most Marketable.
SportsPro, the leading sports business media company across print, digital and events, recently revealed their 10th annual 50 Most Marketable, a top 50 list in which they rank the 50 most marketable athletes in the world.
The 50 athletes ranked in this list are ranked based on their marketing potential over the upcoming three years, and their rankings are determined by various factors, including but not limited to “age, home market, crossover appeal, charisma and willingness to be marketed”, according to SportsPro.
These rankings also take into an account how effective of a promoter each athlete is on social media using the Promotional Effectiveness Score calculated by Hookit, SportsPro’s official data partner.
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Two Formula 1 drivers made it onto this year’s list after two made it onto last year’s, but one of this year’s two was not on last year’s list, and that driver ended up being the higher ranking of the two on this year’s list.
That driver was Scuderia Ferrari’s Charles Leclerc.
Leclerc, 21, has driven in Formula 1 since last season when he drove for Alfa Romeo Sauber following his 2016 championship-winning season in GP3 and his 2017 championship-winning season in Formula 2.
After just one season driving for Sauber, he was promoted to Ferrari as the replacement for 2007 champion and 21-time Grand Prix winner Kimi Raikkonen.
The Monegasque driver has not yet won a race this season in what has been a tough season for Ferrari as a whole, but he has come close on several occasions, most notably in the Bahrain Grand Prix when what was more than a 10-second lead turned into a third place finish due to a late engine failure that his car experienced after he dominated the race from the pole position.
He also dominated the Austrian Grand Prix from the pole position, but he was passed with under three laps remaining by Aston Martin Red Bull Racing’s Max Verstappen, who ran him down from more than 15 seconds behind. He went on to finish in a career-high second place, the fourth of five podium finishes that he has recorded thus far.
Additionally, Mercedes-AMG Petronas Motorsport’s Lewis Hamilton, who leads the driver standings with eight victories in the first 12 races of the season, is the only driver who has led more laps than Leclerc has so far this year.
In just his first appearance in the 50 Most Marketable, Leclerc was ranked all the way up at #8. Five years ago, Hamilton was ranked at #1 having won one championship, and he is now a five-time and soon-to-be six-time champion, so Leclerc can certainly make the climb to the top given his potential.
For the full 50 Most Marketable, click here.
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Charles Leclerc and the rest of the Formula 1 field are scheduled to end their summer break this weekend with the Belgian Grand Prix. This race is scheduled to take place on Sunday, September 1, and it is set to be broadcast live on ESPN2 from Circuit de Spa-Francorchamps in Stavelot, Belgium beginning at 9:05 a.m. ET.