Leclerc grew up in Monte Carlo and began karting aged five, training at a circuit owned by Jules Bianchi's father; Bianchi later became his godfather. His father, Hervé Leclerc, was a former Formula Three driver who died of illness four days before Charles won the 2017 Baku Formula 2 feature race. His younger brother Arthur also became a racing driver. Leclerc was scouted by manager Nicolas Todt in 2011 and joined the Ferrari Driver Academy in 2016.
After winning the 2011 karting Junior World Cup, Leclerc competed in Formula Renault 2.0 in 2014, finishing runner-up to Nyck de Vries. He graduated to FIA European Formula 3 with Van Amersfoort Racing in 2015, winning four races and claiming the rookies' title despite finishing fourth overall. In 2016 he won the GP3 Series with ART Grand Prix, dedicating the title to Bianchi. He then won the inaugural FIA Formula 2 Championship in 2017 with Prema, taking seven victories and eight pole positions in a record-breaking campaign, becoming the then-youngest GP2/F2 champion at 19 years and 356 days.
Leclerc debuted with Sauber in 2018 as a Ferrari Academy driver, finishing thirteenth in the championship with 39 points and winning the FIA Rookie of the Year award. He moved to Ferrari for 2019 to partner Sebastian Vettel. In Bahrain he became the second-youngest polesitter in Formula One history. He won the Belgian Grand Prix — dedicating the victory to Anthoine Hubert, killed the day before — and then the Italian Grand Prix, ending Ferrari's nine-year win drought at Monza, earning the nickname il Predestinato in Italian media. He finished fourth in the championship with 264 points.
The 2020 and 2021 seasons were winless for Leclerc as Ferrari struggled for performance, though he secured isolated podiums. In 2022, with new ground-effect regulations, Ferrari challenged Red Bull strongly in the season's opening half. Leclerc won in Bahrain, Australia, Austria, Italy, and Singapore, and led the championship before a series of mechanical failures and strategic errors from Ferrari cost him the title; he finished second with 308 points, 146 behind champion Max Verstappen.
From 2023 onwards, Leclerc was partnered by Carlos Sainz Jr. at Ferrari. After a points-heavy but win-light 2023 campaign — highlighted by six podiums and five poles — Leclerc achieved a landmark victory at the 2024 Monaco Grand Prix, becoming the first Monégasque driver to win his home race since Louis Chiron in 1931. He added victories at the Italian and United States Grands Prix to finish third in the 2024 championship with 356 points.
In 2025, partnered by seven-time champion Lewis Hamilton, Leclerc closed the season fifth overall with 242 points and seven podiums, outscoring Hamilton at 19 of 24 rounds. Entering 2026, Leclerc extended his Ferrari contract through 2028 and competed for the championship lead in the new-regulation era.
Leclerc's back-to-back wins at the 2019 Belgian and Italian Grands Prix announced his arrival as a genuine front-runner. His 2020 Turkish Grand Prix pole and his 2022 title fight against Verstappen demonstrated his ability to compete with the fastest machinery. His 2024 Monaco victory, in front of his home crowd, was described as the most significant of his career. He holds the record for most pole positions without a World Drivers' Championship, with 27 as of mid-2026.
Leclerc plays the piano and released the extended play Dreamers in 2024 alongside French pianist Sofiane Pamart, which peaked at number two on the Billboard Classical Albums chart. He has been an ambassador of the Princess Charlene of Monaco Foundation since 2018 and raised over US$70,000 through sim racing during the COVID-19 pandemic. He was awarded the Medal of Honour by the National Council of Monaco in 2020.