©WRi2

While we remembered Jules Bianchi yesterday, a year on from the Frenchman's death, there is another young driver following in his footsteps who also remembers Bianchi on a regular basis. Charles Leclerc is part of the Ferrari Driver Academy and drove for the Scuderia for the first time at Silverstone. Leclerc received plenty of advice from Bianchi in his early years and said: “I knew him from when I was really, really young. He was my godfather and he helped me with most of things in racing.

“Obviously now it’s hard without him because he always helped me, and I miss his help. He advised me really well in the past, and all his comments he gave me in the past I keep them in mind and try not to make the errors he told me not to do.”

Andrew Lewin

Andrew first became a fan of Formula 1 during the time when Michael Schumacher and Damon Hill were stepping into the limelight after the era of Alain Prost, Nigel Mansell and Aryton Senna. He's been addicted ever since, and has been writing about the sport now for nearly a quarter of a century for a number of online news sites. He's also written professionally about GP2 (now Formula 2), GP3, IndyCar, World Rally Championship, MotoGP and NASCAR. In his other professional life, Andrew is a freelance writer, social media consultant, web developer/programmer, and digital specialist in the fields of accessibility, usability, IA, online communities and public sector procurement. He worked for many years in magazine production at Bauer Media, and for over a decade he was part of the digital media team at the UK government's communications department. Born and raised in Essex, Andrew currently lives and works in south-west London.

Recent Posts

Theo Pourchaire joins Mercedes as F1 development driver

The revolving door of Formula 1 talent has just swung wide open for one of…

14 hours ago

Hill returns to Williams in ambassador role in title anniversary year

Thirty years after conquering the Formula 1 world title with Williams, Damon Hill is heading…

15 hours ago

Sainz's clear message to F1 chiefs: ‘Stay open-minded on rules'

Carlos Sainz has urged FIA and Formula One Management to keep an “open mind” over…

17 hours ago

Why ex-Red Bull drivers see Hadjar keeping pace with Verstappen

Isack Hadjar is facing the ultimate baptism of fire this season in F1: going wheel-to-wheel…

18 hours ago

The day Fangio went missing in Havana

The great Juan Manuel Fangio certainly enjoyed a storied motorsport career but the episode that…

19 hours ago

‘I want to win’ – Herta responds to Cadillac’s F2 expectations

Colton Herta has been handed a clear target by Cadillac ahead of his rookie FIA…

20 hours ago