Charles Leclerc  is one of the many upcoming stars of Formula One. He moved pretty quickly from Sauber to Ferrari and managed to dethrone his four time world champion, Sebastian Vettel with ease in his first season with Scuderia Ferrari. In 2019, he had 7 poles and 2 victories to his name, managing to finish fourth in the qualifying. However, all this wouldn’t have happened if not for the intervention of Nicolas Todt. In an interview with Motorsport Magazine, Todt revealed that Leclerc had nearly run out of money to continue karting at the age of 14. He stepped in and financed Charles fledgeling career.

Todt on Charles Leclerc

Nicolas Todt revealed that he met Charles through Jules Bianchi and immediately signed him. Karting was expensive and at 14 Leclerc was very near to calling it quits. Generally, Todt and his company try to get sponsors to help invest in a driver, however Leclerc’s case was different. Todt wanted to invest in him himself and that is what he did.

Through him, Charles was subsequently introduced to Ferrari and signed to their driver academy in 2016. In 2018, he joined Sauber after having won the GP3 and GP2 championship (now Formula 2), to make his debut at Formula One. A year later, he was driving a Ferrari, having replaced Kimi Raikkonen. He out qualified and outperformed his more established teammate Sebastian Vettel.

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Todt believes that Leclerc is the finest driver he has signed.  He expressed his pride with Leclerc, “But the thing I’m most proud of is Charles. I signed Charles when he was 14. He was about to stop racing because he was running out of money. I decided to help him. I introduced him to Ferrari a few years ago and today he drives there.”

“For me, someone like Charles is the best proof, my greatest pride. That he went to Ferrari and delivered there. We started so early and that’s what I like about my job.”

Nicolas Todt and his management of drivers in Formula One

Charles Leclerc is not the only driver Todt has managed. Daniil Kyvat is currently managed by Todt as well. Other Formula One driver managed by Todt include Felipe Massa, Pastor Maldonado & Jules Bianchi.  To maximise potential, Todt needed to nurture talent right through their karting and junior series days.

Todt and his company scour the junior racing circuits for finding and nurturing ‘fantastic drivers’. However, it’s a costly endeavour. There are risks, that the career path will not pan out as expected. Todt invests his own money in drivers careers.

His first signing in Karting was Jules Bianchi. Charles Leclerc was soon discovered and taken under Todt’s wing.