Quick question: How good is Charles Leclerc’s Italian? Is he fluent? How about his accent? And if you had to rank the best drivers who speak Italian on the grid (Carlos, Esteban, Fernando, Lance, Nico, Ollie, Pierre), how would you rank them? I’ve heard Nico Roseberg considers Italian his first language. This is for very research purposes, so I’d love to know Charles’s specific level!
Hi, Italian native speaker here! I don't know how in depth you wanted it to be, but I just love this topic too much not to vent about it. So... Let's start first with Charles!
I'd say he is quite good! If I had to grade him, it’d be B2 level. He can manage conversations just fine; he sometimes struggles with the meanings of words (both when he’s the one listening and when he’s the one speaking) and has a tendency, especially in the last couple of years, to mash up Italian and English words (he either takes the root of the word and make it italianish or translates literally the word, though in Italian it carries a different meaning. Italian is full of “false friends”, real traps for learners).
When it comes to accent, you can tell he’s not a native (that’s fairly normal) due to the French inflection, vowels’ placement (French-like) and difficulty in pronouncing double consonants (very common). Though, it fluctuates a lot! I remember watching some interviews back in 2019 or 2022 and being absolutely mesmerized by how good his pronunciation was, to the point my best friend - who didn’t know him - asked me if he was Italian lol. Yet, in some interviews he pulls off a heavier French accent or more English vocab mashups. I believe he gets better if he has spent some time around Italian natives (i.e. the team or friends) and he makes a few tiny steps back after spending time with French speakers (family and friends). Absorbing accents from people we listen to is very natural, we all do! And the fact he seems to get onto it so quickly, moving back and forth, hints at how good his ear is. Not surprised he loves music!
Also, something he struggles with sometimes (but I don't blame him, it's confusing as hell per se) is words' stress, especially in verbs. Not all of them, but a few. It's painful to hear, makes me smile, and it's due to a lack of habit (he’s probably less exposed to Italian than what we might think).
Here some brief examples, especially for people who know a bit of Italian or for those who are simply curious (I could write a 300 pages essay, but can’t afford it now and nobody would read it anyway):
- Bahrain 2022, Post Race team radio: SO GOOD. Adrenaline high, yet good accent and double consonants better than usual. (this is the snippet my best friend heard and she was confused… “Why is he called Charles? Isn't he Italian?”)
- Los Angeles Vlog at 8:06, talking to Andrea: not so bad when it comes to accent, but two English-like mistakes. Biggest one is creating a new verb from “regret”, i.e. “rigrettare”. (Funny note: Andrea uses the neologism right after, in response)
- Charity Football Match 2022: solid interview. I chose this one because I think it represents his average speech (actually average-best).
- Abu Dhabi 2024, Post Quali interview: a bit messy, but still manages to get the message across (the whole point of speaking a language). I chose it because this is a moment when he’s stressed out, tired and a bit frustrated (track limits, out of Q1). (hopefully you can see the ones from the Sky Sport F1 Italy channel even in other countries)
Now, very very briefly on the others because I have no time, but let me know if you need more specific info!
Carlos: thick Spanish accent, but that’s not too penalizing. In this case, as opposed to Charles’, Spanish vowel placements are helpful (pretty similar to Italian, whereas French is a mess); here the problem comes with consonants (especially -g- and -z-).
Esteban: I can’t find the interview, but I remember listening to him the first time and just jaw-dropping. Gagged. Speechless. It was top notch. Only interviews I managed to find now have him good, but still slightly Frenchy sounding and using English in case of need.
Pierre: pretty Frenchy, but he’s got sooooo much better! He relies sometimes on English too.
Fernando: Good. A bit Spanishy, but less than Carlos.
Lance (I didn’t knoowwwww, had to search it up): Englishy, a bit of struggling. But I’ve only managed to find one interview, I don’t want to be unfair to him
Ollie: slightly Englishy, but quite good! I think he can master it.
Nico: controversial. He’s really good, especially with semantics, but at times there are some small slip ups in inflection. I know he can be perfect, and this is why I want him to be perfect all the time.
Again, let me know if you need insights. Hope this helps!