From Ferrari to the Frozen Food Aisle

Charles Leclerc, one of the fastest drivers in Formula 1, looked a tad sleepy. Despite being between races and time zones — a rainy Circuit Gilles Villeneuve in Montreal last week and the Spanish Grand Prix two weeks after — he was up very early on a video call from Lake Como in Italy, to talk about his new business venture: LEC, a low-calorie ice cream.

It’s not uncommon for world-famous sports stars to release brand extensions that include ventures like sneakers, perfumes and fashion lines, but ice cream?

Throw into the mix Scuderia Ferrari, a team with the highest of racing pedigrees, and an F1 driver’s need to maintain strength, endurance and a precise weight to compete on some of the most demanding tracks in the world at 200 miles per hour, and a sweet treat associated with vegging on a sofa appears to be an off-track move.

Mr. Leclerc, a teen favorite on the Netflix docuseries “Drive to Survive” with his boyish charm and tousled hair, laughed when asked about the pivot.

“Look, my priority remains to be on track and the fastest,” he said. A few weeks ago, Mr. Leclerc became the first Monegasque driver to win the Monaco Grand Prix in 93 years.