Scuderia Ferrari Monegasque driver Charles Leclerc would be willing to continue with the Maranello team for the upcoming years and therefore sign a contract extension with Ferrari, based on a recent report in the Italian media.
Charles moved to Ferrari from Sauber in 2019 and after an impressive first season in Maranello, the Monegasque was given a record-breaking five-year contract extension, which means he has a deal available until the end of the 2024 Formula 1 campaign. There has been a lot of speculation regarding the future of the 25 year-old driver, especially following the poor start of the 2023 F1 season for Scuderia Ferrari: the SF-23 proved unable to match Red Bull at the Bahrain International circuit, while Charles could not even secure a third place finish due to a power unit technical failure.
As a result, there is fresh doubt regarding Charles Leclerc’s future with Scuderia Ferrari. According to a recent report from the trusted Italian publication Formula Uno Analisi Tecnica, which is known to have inside information from Maranello, Charles Leclerc does not intend to leave Ferrari anytime soon and is focused on becoming world champion with the red team.
“Charles has no intention of abandoning Ferrari. On the contrary, he would like to further tie his future to the red [team].” – Formula Uno Analisi Tecnica informs – “Leclerc does want to become a Formula One World Champion as soon as possible. But he wants to do it with Ferrari.” – the Italian website added.
As a further encouraging sign proving Charles Leclerc commitment to Ferrari, some pointed out to the fact that the Monegasque driver liked a post on Twitter that was in fact an extract from the Italian article, which has given fans confidence that he is prepared to commit his F1 future to Ferrari.
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Charles Leclerc started the previous season in the best way possible, with two race wins in the first three races, at the Bahrain International Circuit and in Australia. This gave fans the hope of seeing a great championship challenge between the Maranello team and Red Bull. Unfortunately it was not meant to be, as Charles’ efforts were hampered by several power unit technical failures and poor strategical decisions from the Maranello team, which cost him the race in Monaco, Silverstone and at the Hungaroring circuit last year. This eventually led to the departure of team principal Mattia Binotto at the end of the 2022 Formula One campaign, which Charles Leclerc finished in second place in the Drivers’ standings, thus achieving his best overall result.
Aware ever since last summer that it would not be able to defeat Red Bull, the Italian side shifted focus to the 2023 F1 season, with the hope of developing a strong car and fixing the engine issues. The Maranello team was confident it had solved the key problems from 2022. However, a new power unit failure forced Charles to retire in Bahrain, while the tyre degradation difficulties were clearly affecting the race pace of the SF-23 cars, with Carlos Sainz unable to finish on the podium having been overtaken by the Aston Martin of Fernando Alonso.
Following a disappointing season-opener at the Bahrain International Circuit, reports from the Italian media talked about a disillusioned Charles Leclerc who requested a meeting with Ferrari chairman John Elkann to discuss the difficult moment. Yet new Ferrari team principal Frederic Vasseur downplayed the importance of the meeting by explaining that it was a planned normal affair.
“We spoke with the drivers, Elkann and [Benedetto] Vigna (Ferrari CEO) after winter testing, and we will all speak again together after Imola. These meetings are planned,” he said in a recent interview for French motorsport magazine AutoHebdo.
Despite the fact that there has been long-standing speculation regarding Charles Leclerc’s future with Scuderia Ferrari and a possible interest from Mercedes, who is looking for a long-term replacement for Lewis Hamilton, the report from Formula Uno Analisi Tecnica represents reassuring news at a difficult moment for Ferrari fans.
