Charles Leclerc, multi-year renewal without time references: a first for Ferrari. The Italian media reacted to the contract extension of Charles Leclerc with Ferrari.

Contract extension without time references

During the traditional Christmas meeting with the press, Ferrari Team Principal Frederic Vasseur emphasized that there was still time for the renewals of Charles Leclerc and Carlos Sainz. He cited Lewis Hamilton as an example, whose contract with Mercedes was set to expire at the end of 2023, and only formalized the renewal until 2025 in the summer.

For Charles Leclerc, however, the timeline was significantly shorter. Yesterday, the official confirmation arrived for a multi-year extension for the Monegasque, continuing his journey with Ferrari that began in 2019. At the end of his dazzling debut season – two victories and seven pole positions, unmatched in Qualifying that year – he secured a five-year renewal until 2024.

This time, there is no specific date for the expiry of this renewal, a detail that Italian journalist and motorsport expert Leo Turrini commented on in today’s edition of the newspaper Il Resto del Carlino: “Never, in at least the recent history of the Prancing Horse, has a multi-year extension of the contract been announced without indicating an expiration date. Never. The implicit logic is clear. The duration of the agreement is subject to conditions to be verified. That is, Charles will race for Ferrari in 2025 and also in 2026 because it would be foolish to extend it without considering the season of new rules. What happens afterward? Presumably, it won’t depend on him or even Fred Vasseur. But on the results. In short, it’s good news. But there is no certainty about the (distant) future.”

“The duration of the renewal has not been revealed, but it is likely that the new deadline will extend at least until the end of 2027, an extension that allows planning for the future without sacrificing the present after too many disappointments,” reads Italian newspaper Stampa in an article by Stefano Mancini, a timeframe with which the columns of Repubblica, signed by Alessandra Retico, also agree:

“Ferrari is Leclerc’s cathedral. It will remain so for a long time, beyond the contract expiry at the end of 2024. At least another three, if not four years, Maranello suggests by announcing the extension of the collaboration with the Monegasque.” Regarding the figures, the three publications agree on the guaranteed compensation for Charles Leclerc: around thirty million euros per season.