All about F1 driver Charles Leclerc’s parents, Hervé and Pascal Leclerc

From karting circuits to Formula 1 races, Charles Leclerc has always had the support of his parents, Hervé Leclerc and Pascal Leclerc.

Hervé and Pascal welcomed Charles on October 16, 1997, and raised him in Monaco with his two brothers, Lorenzo and Arthur. According to Lorenzo’s April 2025 essay in The Monaco magazine, former F3 driver Hervé passed on his love of motorsport to his sons, while Pascal worked as a hairdresser. According to ESPN, Hervé tragically passed away in 2017, before Charles could win the F2 race in Baku, Azerbaijan.

After winning the Monaco Grand Prix in May 2024, Charles spoke about the role his parents played in getting him to that moment.

“I not only achieved my own dream, but also my father’s dream and my mother’s dream. It has supported me in everything I have ever done,” he said in F1.

Charles added: “She was an incredibly strong woman at a time when we all lost our fathers.” According to his YouTube vlog, he remains close with his mother, and she still cuts his hair.

Here’s everything you need to know about Charles Leclerc’s parents, Hervé Leclerc and Pascal Leclerc.

they shared three children

Hervé and Pascal raised their three sons, Lorenzo, Charles, and Arthur, in Monaco. Pascal took Lorenzo into his first marriage. Leclerc’s eldest son wrote in an essay for The Monacosque that he lived with his mother in Hyères and Marseilles until he divorced his first husband and met Hervé.

They moved to Monaco, where they welcomed two more boys, Charles and Arthur.

Arthur is a racing driver like Charles, while Lorenzo earned a master’s degree in business administration specializing in finance and joined a Swiss asset management company. “My brothers and I will continue to support each other in pursuing our dreams,” Lorenzo wrote.

In an interview with CNN in July 2021, Charles said that his upbringing in Monaco taught him hard work and respect for others.

“Monaco gave me most of the values ​​that I try to share in F1,” he reflected. “I’m very, very proud and very happy to have been born there.”

Hervé was also a racing driver.

Hervé raced in F3 in the 1980s and 1990s, but never raced in F1 like his son. “Motorsport was his greatest passion,” Lorenzo recalled in an April 2025 article for The Monasque. “At the age of 18, he competed in a French racing contest and his great performance earned him the chance to compete in the F3 championship.”

Lorenzo said that Hervé put an end to his racing career when he was unable to compete in F1 “due to lack of funds”. After retiring from the sport, Hervé worked for Mechaplast, a plastic injection molding company founded by his stepfather, Charles “Charlie” Mani.

“I often think that Charlie could have helped Hervé reach F1,” Lorenzo wrote, adding, “Maybe so.” While this may have “frustrated” Hervé, he pointed out that he has served the business well over the years.

Pascal is a hairdresser

Pascal is a hairdresser from Monaco. In a September 2024 X clip, former F1 driver David Coulthard said he had his hair cut by her for years until he realized she was Charles’ mother.

“She never mentioned that her son was in the race,” Coulthard said, recalling noticing her at the race. “When he was at Sauber, I bumped into her at the French Grand Prix and I thought, ‘What are you doing here?’ She said, ‘That’s my son (racing)!’ When Coulthard asked him why he didn’t tell him, Pascal replied, “You never stop talking.”

Pascal continues to cut his son’s hair, which he documents on a YouTube video blog and on Facebook. In a June 2024 YouTube video titled “A weekend I’ll never forget,” Charles said: “GP week is starting. This is my cue. My mom is cutting my hair.”

Mr. Hervé passed away in 2017.

According to Lorenzo’s essay for The Monaco, Hervé died in 2017 at the age of 54 after several months in hospital. He died just days before Charles, then still a teenager, won the feature race at the F2 round in Baku.

“Obviously everything was still very new to me so it was difficult to deal with mentally,” Charles recalled to ESPN about the Baku race during a May 2024 interview. “I have flashbacks of all the moments we spent together, all the sacrifices he made for me to get here.”

The racing driver added: “It wasn’t just my dream, it was both of our dreams to get there.”

Two days before Hervé died, Charles lied to Hervé – that he had signed a contract to race in F1. “My mom was pretty mad at me and said, ‘You shouldn’t lie to your dad,'” Charles said on the On Purpose with Jay Shetty podcast in May 2024. “It stayed with me for months. Fortunately, I signed the contract a month later.”

Afterwards, he found out that he wasn’t lying after all and was able to find “peace” of his heart.

Pascal is nervous about Charles’ race.

In an interview with GQ in August 2022, Charles revealed that his mother often calls him worried about the dangers of the sport. He revealed that his godfather and mentor Jules Bianchi died in an accident in 2015 at the age of 25.

“So it’s very difficult for my mother,” Charles explained to the outlet. “And I don’t know what to say to her. Other than that, I love my job. There’s nothing special I can say to make her feel better.” He admitted he wouldn’t promise to pay attention because it “isn’t true.”

“She knows it’s a dangerous sport,” he said. “Safety has improved significantly over the years, but it will forever remain a dangerous sport.”

Charles added that his mother understands that he is “the happiest” behind the wheel.

They always supported Charles.

Both Hervé and Pascal continued to support Charles throughout his career. His official website has a section titled “Loved People” dedicated to his family. According to the site, his parents “always supported and encouraged him, making personal sacrifices so he could pursue his dreams.”

Charles reiterated this in interviews and on social media. “My whole family was rooting for that moment and obviously dreamed of that moment, which makes it even more special,” he told ESPN in May 2024 after his Monaco Grand Prix victory.

Charles paid a heartfelt tribute on Instagram in June 2022 to commemorate the fifth anniversary of his father’s death, sharing a photo of the two of them and writing, “My father has done absolutely everything to get me to where I am today. I’m so grateful to have him in my life.”

Charles further opened up about his mother’s support in an interview with the Guardian in July 2023.

“Of course, my mother always asks me for personal advice,” he said. “I always know I can call my mom. She’s always there for me, but she lacks the technical side.” Charles explained that Pascal “isn’t really interested in motorsport.”