Charles Leclerc has responded to intense speculation during Formula 1’s August interlude, hinting he had locked in a staggering new $200 million agreement with Ferrari.
“It sounds like a good contract,” the Monegasque quipped when queried about the whispers at Zandvoort.
“But no, there were no new deals and no discussions at all,” Leclerc affirmed. “At some point, we will certainly broach the subject.”
There were undertones suggesting that, while his teammate Carlos Sainz was eager to prolong his contract after 2024 posthaste, Leclerc seems more reserved.
“I think my intentions are clear,” Leclerc, 25, expressed, “but as for the team, I don’t know. But I’m not too worried. For now this topic is not a priority.
“At the moment we just want to work on the car as much as possible in order to fight for victories again. We’ll begin negotiations at the end of the season,” he indicated, mirroring team leader Frederic Vasseur’s recent observations.
Furthermore, during a chat with Sky Italia before the Dutch GP, Leclerc revealed his non-engagement with Vasseur during the break.
“Nothing has changed since before the break,” he remarked. “We haven’t talked about it yet because we were both on vacation.”
Perhaps Leclerc is content to bide his time, especially as, like Sainz, he’s already slated for 2024 while Ferrari notably lags behind F1 frontrunner Red Bull.
“We are working to reduce the gap to Red Bull,” he noted, “but they have a large margin and it will be difficult to catch up with them before the change of regulation” in 2026.
“We have some improvements planned for the next races that should help, but with this car we could have some more unexpected surprises,” Leclerc added.
