AUSTIN, Texas — This time last year, Charles Leclerc stood in Ferrari’s hospitality space ahead of the 2024 Formula 1 United States Grand Prix and downplayed the team’s chances in the race ahead. Ferrari was locked in a battle with McLaren for the 2024 Constructors’ Championship, but Leclerc was not sure an upgrade package would deliver the results they were hoping for.
Yet on Sunday, he was on the top step of the podium, with teammate Carlos Sainz Jr. alongside him, as Ferrari delivered a stunning front row lockout.
This year, however, Leclerc stood in front of the media in Ferrari’s hospitality space and downplayed something else.
Rumors of a Ferrari exit.
With the team currently fighting with Mercedes for P2 in the championship — and trailing in that fight — rumors about Leclerc’s future have begun to swirl. His comments after the Singapore Grand Prix reportedly rankled some of the team’s engineers, according to Italian media, and Leclerc’s manager even spoke of the need for a “winning car.”
Yet here was Leclerc on Thursday, making it clear where his heart lies.
In red.
“What I can say is what I’ve always said, and that’s very clear,” began Leclerc when asked about the speculation. “I’ve always loved Ferrari so much, and my only obsession at the moment is to win in red, whether it’s now or in the future, and I want to bring back Ferrari to the top.”
Leclerc’s future is not the only bit of speculation about the team in red, as paddock chatter has linked former Red Bull boss Christian Horner with a move to Maranello. During the FIA Press Conference earlier in the day, Lewis Hamilton labeled that rumor as an “unhelpful distraction,” and Leclerc echoed that sentiment later in the afternoon.
“There are lots of speculations around me, but just in general around the team for whatever reason, I feel like there are too many people speaking things and not coming from actual facts, and it’s just a little bit annoying,” started Leclerc.
“It’s always been like that, and I think as a driver, but I think as a team we’ve just got to focus on our things, which is what we are doing, but it’s just not great and not super nice to see all these things around the team all the time.
“It’s definitely not a situation we want to be in, in a way that the performance is not at the level where we want to be. But we are all focused on trying to turn that situation around, as I was saying, and whenever there’s those situations where the results are not there, then there are always those rumors around that come back.
“But what I say today is what I’ve said in the past six or seven years with the team, yeah.”
Pressed on whether Ferrari and Leclerc can return to the top, given the team’s recent history, the driver emphasized that the people in the building are what give him hope for the future.
“Because I know the people,” said Leclerc when asked if a title was indeed possible at Ferrari.
“I mean, we are pushing massively in trying to improve our processes and in the way we work, and there are also new people coming to the team with different mindsets and also different ways of working, and that is giving me a lot of optimism for the future.
“But as I said, obviously next year is going to be a very important turning point,” continued Leclerc.
“And we’ll see, but I’m optimistic because I know the team, I know the people, and I know that we are working in the right direction, even though, as I said earlier, some of our competitors came with upgrades recently, and it might look like we are going [backward].
“And yeah, it seems that we have lost a little bit of performance compared to them, but that’s kind of expected when we don’t have an upgrade when the others do.
“But that’s a choice, and I hope a choice that will pay off in midterm speaking about the beginning of next year.”
As for what winning in red looks like this year, with McLaren having already clinched the Constructors’ Championship, Ferrari has turned their focus on the battle for second with Mercedes.
At the moment, the Silver Arrows lead in that fight by 27 points, but Leclerc is absolutely not “giving up” in that chase.
“I mean, I don’t know how many points there are in between us, but I think they overtook us recently, so, yeah. It can swing one way or another very, very quickly, especially on the Constructors’ where you’ve got both cars, so we’ve got to stay on it and then the target is still to finish P2 in that championship as obviously McLaren already won, so, yeah, that’s a target and I think a real realistic one,” said Leclerc.
