Leclerc: Priority to win with Ferrari, if not I'll be forced to look elsewhere

Last year, Leclerc was fast out of the box, taking a commanding early lead in the 2022 Formula 1 title fight, but about now last year the wheels went off the Ferrari programme. The title was lost and this year they have been poor all season long, never really recovering from that stumble.

While Leclerc is not an error-free driver, as he wrestles an uncompetitive beast against the benchmark package of Max Verstappen and the uncannily effective Red Bull RB19, the Ferrari man cannot be accused of not giving it all he has every time he dons the iconic Red overalls even when the car is not close to the RBRs.

How long will Leclerc's patience last? Rival Verstappen, the standout driver of his and this generation, claims win after win, and at 25 years of age has 41 F1 victories (and counting!) to his name and has all but claimed his third F1 World Championship already this year, with only eight of 22 races run so far.

In contrast, although Leclerc is the same age as Max, his stats show he has five F1 wins to his name and of course that stat will only be addressed by being in a team capable of winning consistently.

Asked about his future in an in-depth interview with Motorsport Italia: Leclerc who becomes a free agent in 2025 said: “I don't want to lie, I don't like starting a season [2024] knowing it's the last year of my contract. I want to know what awaits me in the long run.

"I have had previous experience with Red Bull and Renault, and I know that not knowing your future is not the ideal situation for a professional driver. For this reason, one of the priorities over the next winter will be to clarify my position.

"It is understood that for me the main objective is to win one day at the wheel of a Ferrari, something I have made clear many times. This will be my winter priority, if it's not possible I'll be forced to look elsewhere," declared Leclerc.

The Monegasque remains one of the most respected drivers on the grid despite the current purple patch in his F1 career. Reported but not confirmed interest from Audi, to spearhead their F1 programme in 2026 has bubbled in the F1 paddock of late.

Regarding the Audi rumours, Leclerc had a dig at the current media landscape: "I honestly think there are weeks in which there is little to tell about what happens in Formula 1. Thus stories take shape, perhaps in minor journalism, to try to get a few more 'clicks' or to gain some notoriety, an aspect that mainly affects a part of smaller publications.

"Today there is a hunt for who says it first, there is an approach that aims to say: we wrote it first, already three years ago! I think it's all the result of this approach, also because I can't find other reasons, above all because I know very well that I haven't spoken to any other team than Ferrari."

Asked if the problems suffered with the Ferrari SF23 were inherited from last year's car, Leclerc replied: “In the second half of last year we had a car capable of fighting for pole positions but in the race we are regularly beaten by the Red Bulls.

"Sometimes it seemed like a problem of management, of strategies, but on many occasions, we simply didn't have the race pace, I can think of Budapest, Austin, or other occasions where we started from pole. On Saturday we were quicker by a tenth, but slower in the race by two or three. This year we are experiencing the same situation, but the delta is wider."

"We have a fast car, but we have to make sure it's fast in the race too," reckoned Leclertc. "We must also say that we haven't won so far. We are digging very deep using the feedback from the tracks and every weekend we try something, from the shock absorbers to the aerodynamics or something else to understand where the problem is."

"I see a concentrated and committed workgroup, both in the factory and on the track, in my career I have never spent so much time close to a team, going from the simulator to the meetings, always trying to give my support to arrive at a solution

"So far in every race weekend, we have always tried new ideas to try to improve the situation, we don't have the magic wand yet, but we are developing the car step by step. I think Mercedes also had to deal with a single-seater that only works in a very small window, but they called it 'diva'…”

Ahead of the Austrian Grand Prix this weekend, Round 9 of the 2023 F1 World Championship, Red Bull's home race which Leclerc won last year, the Ferrari driver reflected on the eight races thus far: "It hasn't been an easy start to the season for me either.

"CCarlos [Sainz] and I push to the limit but on a couple of occasions we had some strange weekends, suddenly the car behaved unpredictably already in qualifying. And when you don't immediately understand what happened, it's not easy from the point of view of the drivers as well as for the team.

"Sometimes the car gives you hope, in Australia, for example, I was able to run a good race, but then there were other cases where we had the feeling we had taken two steps back, so it's complicated to manage. In these scenarios, it is important to have strong leadership and a united group, we are making a journey together and it is not easy with all the criticisms and doubts that surround us, but we are doing our best," insisted Leclerc.

But that "best" Leclerc refers to has fallen well short of bringing joy to Tifosi and the Italian media. New team principal Fred Vasseur - in the hottest seat in sport for the past six months - plus the rest of the 'invisible' Ferrari leadership are copping a great deal of flack for the disarray of this 2023 F1 campaign.

Amid the criticism and woeful results, Leclerc remains positive about Ferrari under Vasseur's watch: “I think everything is starting to work out, of course, it's very difficult to sustain after a weekend like Barcelona.

"I have full confidence in Fred and the way he is managing things as well as the way he is leading the team. I was very impressed, with his ideas and how he sees things, and I think his direction of him is starting to show.

“We have our problems, but it's fair to say that Mercedes, Alpine and Aston Martin also can't do much because we're fighting against a team [Red Bull] that has found something particular or that is simply doing an incredible job."

Can Ferrari reduce the gap and win again? Charles reckons so: “If we manage to find what we want, I think so, the challenge is to fully understand how the single-seaters of this generation work and if we succeed, I believe one hundred percent that Ferrari has the ability to provide me with a winning car. And that's what we're fighting for."

In closing, Leclerc reasoned: “Ferrari, when you don't win, is always subject to criticism, it's Ferrari, and it's something they tried to explain to me a thousand times before coming to this team, and I always replied: don't worry, I'll get used to it.

"I have to say that to understand you need to be inside the team, because every weekend there's a story, if you don't win there's always some controversy that takes shape. But I also have to say that when you win, well, it's the best place in the world," insisted the Ferrari driver.