Lando Norris’ boss lauds Charles Leclerc’s underappreciated F1 achievement

Lando Norris' boss and McLaren team principal Zak Brown has lauded Charles Leclerc amid what he calls one of the Monegasque driver’s most underappreciated Formula 1 achievements. The motorsports chief has praised the Ferrari driver's pole position record.

Brown, who recently spoke in an interview as captured by Racer, stressed the Scuderia Ferrari driver's pole position to win is not as poor as he often receives criticism for.

The 53-year-old reflecting on Leclerc’s first-place start to victory record, sought to defend his own driver Norris, and highlighted several of the 27-year-old’s failures to convert his pole position into victories are often no fault of his.

“Because there’s another stat out there from [Charles Leclerc], who I’m a big fan of, who’s not won that many races from pole, and I don’t think that’s anything on him. I think that’s how awesome he is over a lap and maybe can carry a car over a lap that doesn’t have the ultimate race pace. So that’s not intended to be disparaging on him at all. I think he’s a huge talent.”

“But my point is kind of a good narrative, and then when that narrative goes away, no one kind of, it’s almost like the retraction’s always on the back page. And I think Lando’s in a great place.”

Since Charles Leclerc’s venture into Formula 1, he has claimed pole position on 27 occasions. However, he has only been able to convert his first-place start to race victories on five occasions.

For Lando Norris, the British driver has so far claimed pole position 13 times, and only on five occasions has he converted them into a race victory.

Why Charles Leclerc failed to convert his Hungary pole position to race victory

Charles Leclerc witnessed his unsavoury record of failing to convert pole positions to victory continue at the recent Hungary Grand Prix. The Ferrari driver who started in first place would only take the checkered flag in fourth position.

Leclerc, who kept the McLaren of Lando Norris and Oscar Piastri at bay for most part of the Grand Prix, would see himself slide down the pecking order following his second pitstop around the 40th lap of the race. He appeared to be etching out a gap in front, but witnessed his lead rapidly fade as the race neared its final stint.

Charles Leclerc would eventually finish the race in fourth place; however, following the conclusion of the Grand Prix, the Ferrari team would confirm the driver had suffered a problem with his chassis, which resulted in him losing lap time to other drivers.

The disappointing outing at the Hungarian Grand Prix extended Leclerc’s pole-to-win drought, leaving him with just one victory from his last 15 races. His last successful pole converted to victory was at the 2024 Monaco Grand Prix.