Plug “MC24 (1:4)” or “SIN24 (1:5)” into Spotify or Apple Music and you’ll find thumbnails of a silhouetted head—boyish profile, messy hair, patrician jawline—set against an atmospheric blue background. Motorsports fans will likely recognize the face: It belongs to Charles Leclerc, the Monégasque Formula 1 megastar. But here he’s far from the autodrome. “MC24 (1:4)” and “SIN24 (1:5)” are the latest piano compositions in a catalog Leclerc, a mostly self-taught virtuoso, has been quietly building since 2023.
“I’m obviously moving around everywhere, and playing the piano is a time for me to slow down and to think about things other than [F1],” the 27-year-old says during a Zoom call. We’re speaking ahead of this weekend’s Louis Vuitton Australian Grand Prix in Melbourne, the first of 24 worldwide Formula 1 summits in 2025.
“I always feel pretty happy and energized,” Leclerc continues, “but for some reason the way I like to calm myself is by listening to melancholic music. So I compose melancholic music because it’s just a way for me to disconnect.” Music is his biggest personal interest after, well, cars. Though he’d played a little in childhood, his passion for the piano solidified during the COVID-19 years, when he had a bit more time on his hands.
Some way to change gears is a real necessity for a guy like Leclerc, whose professional (and public) life hinges, really, on how fast he can go. He has been Ferrari’s star F1 driver since 2019, his celebrity underpinned by his good looks and expanded by Netflix’s docuseries Formula 1: Drive to Survive, which introduced millions of Americans to the autosport. He commands a personal audience in the tens of millions on social media and has earned a total of eight wins in his career so far—one that started from a spark set by his late father, Hervé, who was a Formula 3 driver back in the day. (Leclerc fondly recalls the pair listening to “Where Is the Love?” by the Black Eyed Peas while traveling to his go-kart competitions.)
Until the end of last year, Ferrari’s other big name was Carlos Sainz (F1 teams compete in teams of two), but 2025 sees the arrival of the 105-time Grand Prix winner and seven-time world champion Lewis Hamilton, 40. Hamilton’s transfer from Mercedes-Benz has made the current Prancing Horses the most visible (and, inevitably, scrutinized) duo in the sport.
“We haven’t spent a lot of time on the track [as a team],” Leclerc says, “but I’m looking forward to racing with him and to obviously learn from him—he’s incredible.”
In season seven of Drive to Survive, released just last week, the fifth episode, titled “Le Curse of Leclerc,” focuses on the driver’s 2024 victory in his native Monaco—a moving vindication against those who said Leclerc was hexed in the principality after a string of poor results in prior seasons. One scene actually shows him playing an early version of “MC24 (1:4)”; the piece, written with the Monaco Grand Prix in mind, is sweeping and romantic, with cascades that echo the sprint-to-slow rhythms of driving. It befits the grandeur and emotion of competing at home. “SIN24 (1:5),” on the other hand—composed in contemplation of Leclerc’s fifth-place finish in Singapore last year—has an altogether different tenor, its high-harmony taps complementing Leclerc’s steady, moody tinkling. He cites Hans Zimmer as an inspiration.
In 2024 Leclerc worked with French pianist Sofiane Pamart on a four-track EP called Dreamers. Of the experience, the driver says: “This was incredible, to finally be with a real musician in a studio…. It was so impressive and interesting for me to be able to witness what he could do and what we could do together. Suddenly my imagination had no limits anymore, because he was there for the technical part.”
But his off-track goings-on don’t end there: Leclerc also recently inked a multiyear partnership with Scottish whiskey brand Chivas Regal, which he celebrated in Melbourne this week with a pop-up piano bar (aptly called Leclerc’s). “I stopped by, but I’m not good enough yet to perform live. I’m training for that!” Leclerc says, laughing. After this weekend’s Grand Prix, however, he may just indulge in a Leclerc Spritz—“the first bespoke cocktail I’ve created”—which combines Chivas Regal, Champagne, elderflower, lime juice, and a bit of mint.
It’s not often that the public gets to see this more playful side of a Formula 1 fixture. The sport’s image is heavily controlled, with Drive to Survive offering one small, polished window into its inner workings.
Leclerc is fairly candid about his career’s outsize demands. “Formula 1 takes a lot of time, and with the very little I have left, I spend it on the piano at home,” he says. “I also play padel, and I like to ski. I read a lot—mostly self-reflection books.” Leclerc is a dog dad, too, with a one-year-old dachshund named Leo. (This writer would like to see him among the next round of dogues.) “He’s definitely made my life a lot better,” Leclerc says. “I mean, it’s just crazy how much you can love a little dog like this.”
He pauses. “It’s a great life. I can’t complain. I’m doing what I’ve dreamed of doing since being younger. But the time with my close ones is something I miss sometimes.”
There are, no doubt, similarities between high-performance driving and piano-playing: Dexterity is needed, as is exactitude in timing, and the continuous development of feel—whether for the road or the ivories. It’s fitting, then, that his profile as a musician is slowly rising, too: He now has upwards of 300,000 monthly Spotify listeners.
“I’ve already got a few [new] songs in mind, and I’ve played them at home,” Leclerc says. “I’ve basically got to register them and release them. But really my goal is to one day be able to reach a level where my technical knowledge meets what I have in my mind.” In other words: He’d like to pick up the pace a little.