Kyle Macleod[edit | edit source]
Background[edit | edit source]
The young Kyle Macleod started most of his days up in the highlands go-karting with friends, family, and many other people. He came around one day and decided at a very young age he wanted to be a Formula One Driver. His parents then took him to a local go-karting association in the highlands of Scotland and from that point he knew where his life and career was heading. After many years of go-karting Kyle Macleod became the #1 go-karting Champion in the whole of Scotland, he then decided to go national and joined the regional championship down in the East Midlands, where he first ran into his current rival driver today Josh Beardmore. If you thought they Battle hard now, you should of seen them back in their younger years. Time went by and the more Kyle Macleod raced, he caught the eye of a scout for the Ferrari Academy.
2021-2022: Debut with Ferrari and Winning the Championship[edit | edit source]
Kyle Macleod first come to the occasion in Formula One in 2021, He had to step up and jump into the seat at Ferrari to take over from Charles Leclerc due to personal reasons on his behalf. It was Kyle's first opportunity to show the world what he was made of, especially jumping straight into a team with loads of experience in the sport. Kyle didn't have the greatest start to the season as he only managed to bring a 7th place in the Australian Grand Prix. At this point there wasn't much clarity or conspiracy towards the young Scottish driver. The fans were interested in what this driver was capable of, but had a massive margin to set after taking over Leclerc in his place for the time being. Bahrain came around, and the most bizare and foolish thing had happened so early in Macleod's Career. He managed to get himself Disqualified in his second ever Formula One Race. The fans and other members of the Formula One Community were absolutely shocked with what Ferrari have let themselves into, by signing this driver into a car in which reputation matters. Kyle took those past two races in and decided to not let it get to him and just carry on and race like his career depended on it. China & Spain were next and Kyle Macleod managed to achieve 2 2nd Place Podiums back to back. As a young driver starting in Formula One, he wanted to show his team and fellow racers that they should be afraid of him and what he can achieve, he may of been a young driver, but he was intrigued, and as what happens to all young drivers to begin with, they get silly & greedy. Kyle showed great maturity in these 2 races, after suffering from 2 terrible races before. Unfortnatley for Kyle he only managed to recieve 7th in Canada. Kyle's first F1 Victory in his first season came around the French Grand Prix, due to extreme weather conditions, and great strategy calls by his team. He managed to pull of one of the greatest wins in the French Grand Prix. Including this race, Kyle managed to bag 6 Podiums in a row with another victory coming out of the Belgium Grand Prix, but when the teams home grand prix came around Sebastian Vettel managed to top his teammate and come out with a victory showing him that he has a lot to learn and if he wants to one day become a world legend, he will have to earn his place. Throughout the rest of the season Kyle managed to pull out consecutive points majority of which were on the podium spot with another victory in Brazil, but due to Beardmore's great first season, he was left shortly behind, and couldn't manage to win the Driver's Championship in his first season. Kyle took this to heart, and thought next season I will do better and he knew he could do it.
2022 was an amazing season for young Kyle Macleod he managed to keep ahead of everyone in the championship throughout the whole season. His championship rival, Beardmore, from 2021 would also be his rival for 2022. Beardmore made a lot of mistakes throughout the season, and struggled to keep on terms with Kyle Macleod, where Beardmore wasn't Macleod was. And he put everything, time, energy & focus towards winning the championship in his second ever term in Formula One. A lot of conspiracy surrounded Kyle Macleod & Joshua Beardmore this season, but with Kyle's great mentality he had he was consitantly claiming podiums after podiums after podiums, grabbing race wins when he most needed it and most importantly broke the record of the youngest Driver's World Champion at only 21 Years Old. This was one of the greatest achievements in Kyle's Career. With all the conspiracy, certain hate from many fans and members of Formula One, he showed them where he stood. This season was Kyle's most important season. And to claim not only the Drivers Championship as well as the Constructors Championship, were extra bonus points.
2023: Macleod rises, Leclerc falls[edit | edit source]
In 2023 Kyle has re-negotiated a contract with Ferrari which will keep him with the team till the next regulation changes in 2027, His team-mate for the season in young Monegasque driver Charles Leclerc. The 2023 season proved to be a struggle for Macleod having come off the back of winning the Championship in 2022 it was now time to defend it. Beardmore in the opening race laid out the gauntlet by winning the Bahrain Grand Prix, Macleod only managed to finish 3rd. Macleod struggled to keep on terms with Beardmore due to the fact Beardmore seemingly recovered from the 2022 title fight and was determined to show the world he could beat Macleod. Macleod only managed four wins in the season compared to Beardmore's eight. This crucially meant that Macleod had to do damage limitation throughout the season and had to pick up wins when he needed them most. The strategies from Ferrari had to be called to perfection and Macleod would need to rely on his speed if he wanted to catch Beardmore. The best race this was demonstrated at was France, where Ferrari started on the medium compound tyre and McLaren started on the soft compound tyre. This meant that when the pitstops came Beardmore would have to pit first and go onto the mediums and have track position and space between himself and Macleod. However, it also meant Macleod, who had pitted for softs, would have a chance at the end of the race to come back at him and try to win which Macleod was able to do. Macleod's teammate Charles Leclerc, had dreamed together when they were in the Ferrari Academy to be teammates at Ferrari, 2023 meant it was a dream fulfilled, Leclerc challenged Macleod throughout the season especially in qualifying but throughout the season there was speculation that Charles Leclerc, who hadn't been putting in good performances, was going to be replaced by Mick Schumacher who at his home grand prix of Germany got his first podium of 3rd. Macleod and Leclerc both agreed together that they wouldn't try and get into one another's business when it came to contracts, but they did agree that they would help each other when they could. In this Macleod was able to learn a lot from Leclerc and Leclerc was able to learn a lot from Macleod. Macleod and Leclerc were able to keep their seats for 2024. Macleod's contract was finalised at Hungary and Leclerc's contract was finalised after he had won the finale, the Singapore Grand Prix. At this race Ferrari won the Constructors Championship, however, Macleod's goal of defending his title ended in heartbreak. Going into the finale Macleod trailed Beardmore by 16 points and it did not seem Macleod could win it. However, the rain came down on the Singapore circuit and caused havoc. Beardmore went out and Macleod who had timed his pitstop to perfection like he did in Germany suddenly found the destiny of the championship in his hands. He had the fastest lap on track meaning all he would need to do is finish second to become champion. He got held up by Lewis Hamilton for what he said "one lap too long." This had slowed Macleod just enough that he and his former teammate Sebastian Vettel who sat in 2nd were separated less than a second when they crossed the line. Though Macleod was heartbroken it did not stop him from celebrating the Constructors Championship victory, nor did it stop him from going to the McLaren garage and congratulating both Beardmore and the team.
Winter Break[edit | edit source]
Fans have questioned why exactly Macleod doesn't join Formula E during the winter break like Beardmore and Shane Wray have done. He stated that he prefers to stay out of Formula E because though racing is his passion and a big part of his life, he wants to have a life outside of racing which is why he has stayed out of Formula E and why he stays at home in Caithness. Other questions have come about as to why he doesn't use social media as very little is known about him away from the track and away from racing. Macleod said he doesn't use social media as he thinks social media has too much access in getting into peoples privacy, which is the main reason he says he stays away from it. Macleod also said that staying away from social media allows him to spend time with his family and friends before gearing up for the oncoming season.
Return to Glory[edit | edit source]
The 2024 season would prove to be a season in which Macleod could look back on with pride. Going in it was thought Ferrari and McLaren were on equal footing but it seemed as though Ferrari had the strongest car although it wasn't quite similar to their most dominant car in 2004. In the opening race Macleod had to fight his way to the front and pulled off a double overtake on Max Verstappen and Esteban Ocon in order to get into the podium places, Ferrari strategists decided for the undercut on then race leader Shane Wray which proved to be vital in securing Macleod 1st place. Macleod would in this season would achieve eight victories each having been won some required strategy and others required hard racing. There were some difficult races such as in Germany after coming off of winning three consecutive races, Macleod was disqualified from the German Grand Prix. After Germany the gap between Macleod and Beardmore was significantly reduced and caused for Macleod to dig deep which then saw him open the gap to Beardmore again. Ferrari again would win the Constructors Championship with Macleod and Leclerc all that was left was the Driver's Championship and with only Macleod and Beardmore left that could win it. As the Formula 1 parade landed in China at the Shanghai International Circuit, Macleod had the chance to put the title to bed was not to be outscored by Beardmore by nine points. Macleod made sure that didn't happen as he had put his Ferrari on the front row alongside Carlos Sainz and nearly gained the lead through the first four corners, however, the safety car was called out leaving Macleod to follow Sainz but when the safety car was called in Macleod made his move at the turn 14 hairpin and gained the lead and would go on to not only win the race but the World Championship with it.