Charles Leclerc opens up in an exclusive interview with Motorsport.com. From Lewis Hamilton’s arrival in 2025 to his confidence in the Maranello team and Fred Vasseur’s work, to analyzing the dark moments of this season and hopes for the continuation of 2024.
If the choices we make demonstrate who we are, Charles Leclerc is undoubtedly a driver with Ferrari in his heart. But be careful: this has nothing to do with the footballer who pounds his chest for the cameras; this story is founded on much more solid ground.
When he joined the Driver Academy in Maranello in 2016, Charles was an eighteen-year-old chasing a dream. It could have come true elsewhere, but in this case, destiny played its part, aligning everything at the right time. Three years later came his debut with the Scuderia, his first victory in Formula 1, and a record five-year renewal, all in a sweet breathlessness that brought Leclerc into the motorsport Olympus in just twelve intense months.
At the end of that five-year period, Charles is a different person; experiences temper and shape you. But even though the overall balance of his experience with Ferrari last winter was not the most exciting, Leclerc was not tempted by attractive offers that would have led him to change the air. It had nothing to do with “Plan B”; the offers on Charles’s table were of great significance, but he never hesitated.
After extending his contract with Maranello, Leclerc learned of Lewis Hamilton’s arrival and soon realized that the dream of a world championship in 2024 had to be put aside. Moreover, there were those who pointed the finger at Leclerc for some mistakes. In this interview, Charles explains a lot—the reasons behind his errors, the moment of the Scuderia, Hamilton’s arrival, his confidence in Vasseur, as well as in the final part of the current season, the moment when, according to Leclerc, the fruits of their labor will be reaped.
Did Hamilton’s arrival impact your decision to stay with Ferrari?
“It was in the air for a while, but until there’s an official confirmation, you can’t be sure. I knew there was interest from both sides, and in these cases, it’s very likely that an agreement will be reached. I didn’t ask to know more; it’s not part of my role, but I must say that everyone has always been very open and sincere with me.”
Did Lewis’s announcement have any impact on your view of the team for the future?
“It was reassuring because taking on a driver like Lewis Hamilton is obviously a strong signal. I saw it as a positive choice, starting with the fact that Lewis could facilitate the arrival of very talented people in the team.”
Show your support for Scuderia Ferrari with official merchandise collection! Click here to enter the F1 online Store and shop securely! And also get your F1 tickets for every race with VIP hospitality and unparalleled insider access. Click here for the best offers to support Charles and Carlos from the track!
How were you informed about Lewis’s arrival? Did John Elkann or Frederic Vasseur call you?
“Fred informed me, but as I said, day by day I had increasingly sensed that things were heading in that direction. Honestly, I don’t specifically remember a phone call where I was informed about Lewis’s arrival, probably because I wasn’t surprised by the agreement—it was a conviction that gradually grew until the official announcement.”
How do you feel about having a driver like Lewis alongside you? Is it good news?
“Certainly. But I want to say that I’m very happy with the way I’ve worked with Carlos. He’s an incredible driver, and we’ve overcome very difficult moments during our experience at Ferrari. It’s also thanks to his contribution that we’re improving—we’ve always worked well together. At the same time, when you have a seven-time world champion joining the team, it’s always good news, very interesting and motivating. It’s interesting because I’ll be able to learn from one of the best drivers in the entire history of F1, and it’s very motivating because I’m intrigued by the challenge with Lewis in the same car. For these two reasons, I can’t wait to start this new chapter, but I also want to say that I’ve always gotten along very well with Carlos.”
In F1, when you’re beaten by a teammate with a great track record, it’s easier to justify. On the other hand, if you’re beaten by a younger driver with less experience, it can be a bigger problem. Do you agree?
“So far, I’ve never been in the position of being the more experienced one, but if I find myself two-tenths behind my teammate, whether it’s Lewis or anyone else, it makes no difference. I don’t like being behind, and I think that’s the case for all the drivers on the grid—you always want to be first, in any situation. When I was with Seb, for example, I hated being behind him. I knew it was my first year at Ferrari, and I was up against a much more experienced teammate, but I didn’t consider that a sufficient excuse. As far as I’m concerned, I hate being beaten.”
From the outside, Ferrari’s season seems to be divided by a clear line: there was a championship up until the Monaco GP and another post-Monaco. Did you see any signs that foreshadowed the problems that emerged starting from the Montreal weekend?
“No, but that’s a fair assessment. Before Monaco, we brought very few updates to the track, but all the developments were in line with expectations. The car’s platform in general proved to be very stable, which helped Carlos and me to extract the maximum. In Montreal, there were other reasons; of course, we didn’t achieve the results we hoped to reach, and the reliability issue that occurred in the race cost us a good result. From Spain onwards, something changed. We introduced updates to the car that (in simulations) had shown good numbers, but on track, we discovered that the very updates triggered the car’s bouncing. In the following races, I was very aggressive with the setup to try to find solutions to limit the bouncing, and I think I paid a high price for this approach.”
“I found myself driving in qualifying with a setup I had never tried before, exposing myself to the risk of making mistakes. A year ago, we had two race weekends with the same scenario, then at Zandvoort we said: okay, let’s try to understand as much as possible what to do and what is needed, then we’ll reap the benefits. This year, we found ourselves in a very similar situation and went through the same process in the three or four races following the Spanish GP. The downside is that it took us more time compared to 2023, but in the end, we managed to gain a much deeper understanding of what was happening, we learned a lot, and if I were to find myself in a similar situation again, I would pursue the same approach, it’s worth it. If we had been in contention, we would probably have had to focus on optimizing the weekend, but given the situation, I’m sure it was the right choice, and we’ll see the benefits in the rest of the season.”
Sometimes it seemed like you were making very drastic choices, all or nothing. Is that so?
“I wouldn’t say so, any choice is always calculated. However, in certain situations, you really have very few opportunities. I mean, if you want to shed light on a problem, you have to make extreme choices; if you make small changes, you risk increasing the confusion. The situation we found ourselves in pushed us to be aggressive with the aim of understanding the root of the problems. I can say that on more than one occasion, I’ve been rather drastic in my choices, and this compromised three or four weekends.”
The approach is reminiscent of a soccer team that’s down by one goal and, in the final minutes, throws everything into attack with all the risks that come with it. Losing by one goal or three doesn’t make any difference.
“That’s exactly right. I’ve always tried to shave off the last few hundredths, and I remain convinced that this is the correct approach when you’re driving a car that behaves as expected. But if, for example, you find yourself dealing with a car that’s bouncing, you can’t go too close to the limit because the unpredictability of its behavior forces you to maintain a safety margin. In this scenario, I’m aware that I’m exposing myself to the risk of paying a price simply because it doesn’t align well with my approach. However, I don’t think this was the main issue in the races where we didn’t perform as we would have liked; we paid the price for extreme choices on the car to understand the root of the problems.”
One curiosity. In the chaotic race at Silverstone, where the weather was extremely variable, at certain moments, you and Carlos were getting almost opposite information from the pit wall. Do you think you need a bit of time to get used to your new race engineer?
“We’ve reviewed everything that happened, but I won’t go into too much detail about the analysis—let’s just say we discussed it within the team. We must not forget that Bryan Bozzi did an incredible job stepping into a difficult role mid-season, and we know we still have some work to do together. At Silverstone, it was one of the first times we found ourselves in unusual conditions. Even in Montreal, the situation was similar, but in that case, power unit issues greatly influenced our choices. So, I think Silverstone was probably the first time we found ourselves in a very particular situation, and it became clear that we still need to improve something in our communication—it’s part of the work we have to do together, Bryan and I. Going back to the British GP, was it the right thing to do? No, it wasn’t, and I was clear about that. But from that moment on, we’ve worked very well together, and we don’t want what happened at Silverstone to happen again.”
Enrico Cardile’s departure mid-season created a somewhat atypical situation. How do you see it?
“I believe my role is to give my best on the track. Of course, I try to have a clear picture of what’s happening within the team, but I have 200% trust in Fred’s work. I don’t think he’ll remain technical director for long! I completely trust him, and I’m certain he’ll manage the situation in the best possible way. I’m also fully confident that there won’t be any negative impact on the team. It’s always about the group, not so much about one particular person.”
How do you judge the work Vasseur has done since his arrival in Maranello?
“I believe that today, the people operating have greater responsibility. The goal is to put every team member in the best position to give their 100%, and to do this, they need to feel Fred’s trust. I think he’s done a great job in advancing this change of approach. As for this season’s events, it took three or four races to get to the bottom of our problems, but in the end, I believe everyone recognized the weak points of what had been brought to the car. Probably in the past, a transition like this wouldn’t have been easy.”
Some say real progress always comes in response to problems…
“That may be true… but I’m not particularly happy when problems arise; I always hope these moments don’t happen. Of course, when you’re in it, you try to find all the positive aspects, and that’s what we’re trying to do as a team. Then, we’re Ferrari, and every time something happens, it always draws more attention than it would for any other team, but we’ve become good at focusing only on ourselves, shutting the door to the outside world.”
Until last year, you and Carlos always seemed to have a common view on the team’s situation. This season, things have changed—Carlos seems more critical, and you more optimistic. Is that really the case?
“I can speak for myself; I totally trust the team’s work, and I think it’s the same for Carlos. Sometimes, differences in views are actually related to how something is said—a slightly different word can be interpreted very differently. Honestly, from within the team, I’ve always felt we share the same optimism and feedback (as Sainz); perhaps the way it’s portrayed externally is a bit different. We’ve made great progress over the last seven or eight months, then came the problems in Barcelona, but that was an isolated case. We understood where we went wrong, and I’m sure we’ll be back on the right track soon.”
Every time you leave the house now, the usual video of you appears on social media. Is it becoming too overwhelming? Are you having trouble managing your private life?
“I certainly can’t complain about the position I’m in; I’m the luckiest person in the world. It’s true, though, that this role comes with some downsides. If someone had told me about this ten years ago, I would never have believed it. But at first, you don’t realize what a lack of privacy really means. In the early years of Formula 1, you appreciate everything happening around you, experiencing every situation as a sort of recognition for your work. But as the years go by, you start to realize that the time you have to dedicate to loved ones isn’t much, and above all, you wish that time could be private. Sometimes, you dream of living those moments like an ordinary person. When I’m at the home of friends I’ve known since I was 12, no one cares who I am in real life, but those moments are becoming rarer. And yes, I do miss that a bit, but at the same time, as I’ve said, my role has brought me so many advantages that I certainly can’t complain.”
Before we let you go… one curiosity. Can you now explain what happened in the pit lane at Spielberg when you turned off the engine and couldn’t restart?
“What really happened… I can’t say! Bye!”
Buy official Ferrari F1 products!
