Well, another piece of the upcoming driver/team puzzle fell into place. Charles Leclerc will continue to drive for Scuderia Ferrari, having signed a contract extension earlier today. It’s neither a change nor a surprise, just confirmation of what many of us expected.
Credit: Gilzetbase
Copyright: CC BY-SA 4.0
I say this because Leclerc has been with Ferrari and Ferrari-affiliate entities throughout his career. In Formula 1; he started with (Ferrari-powered) Sauber before moving over to Ferrari. At Sauber the Team Principal during his tenure was Fred Vasseur. Just last year, he became Team Principal at Ferrari. Plus, Leclerc raced for ART Grand Prix in GP3 which was setup by…Fred Vasseur and Nicholas Todt. Nicholas is the son of former Ferrari Team Boss Jean Todt. So there are some long-standing connections between Leclerc and Ferrari, meaning his extension was no surprise whatsoever.
Yet, Leclerc has been frustrated during his stay with Ferrari. He is an incredibly quick driver with 23 pole positions and has impressive racecraft. However, he has only been able to claim five victories during his time with Ferrari. Sometimes he was let down with poor reliability, other times the team made bad strategy calls, and some seasons they just didn’t have a good car. Charles has been able to run at the front and be competitive for years, but so far consistent victories and championship runs have eluded him.
So why remain at Ferrari? From a historical perspective, Ferrari has always been well-funded and therfore is usually competitive. Even during their fallow periods, they ran near the front and consistently scored points. Many top engineers and designers have worked for them over the years too. Their facilities and technical capabilities are also at or near the pinnacle of the sport. Plus there is the mystique of the Ferrari name and millions of passionate fans worldwide who support them through thick and thin. Therefore a seat at Ferrari is highly coveted by most Formula One drivers.
There are downsides though. Being located in northern Italy makes the team geographically isolated from the heart of Formula One. “Motorsports Valley” in the UK is home to seven of the ten current teams as well as many of the suppliers and specialist firms that support them. Most importantly though, the thousands of highly trained technical personnel who design, build, and support Formula One cars are located there. There are many skilled motorsports people in northern Italy, but nowhere near as many as in the UK.
Plus there are the politics of Ferrari. Whole books and countless articles have been written about how the team operates and all the controversies that have gone on over the years. Many of the best drivers in the world found themselves stymied by the chaos and intrigue within the company, which prevented them from succeeding. This has historically meant leadership turnover and all the friction that entails. Plus the Italian media is always looking for controversial stories emanating from Maranello. Hey, they want to sell ads too!
My guess is that Leclerc had his representation sounded out other teams regarding his services and found no opportunities. Red Bull Racing has Max Verstappen, AMG-Mercedes has both Lewis Hamilton and George Russell, McLaren has Oscar Piastri and Lando Norris, and Aston-Martin has Fernando Alonso. There isn’t likely to be much movement amongst the top teams until after the 2026 rules changes, barring retirements or injuries. Therefore I think Leclerc made a virtue out of necessity and opted to extend his stay with Ferrari. I don’t blame him and think it’s the best career move he could make right now.
This gets to something else that is affecting the drivers market. In the past, drivers would stay with a team for 2-4 years then move on. Some successful ones would have slightly longer stays but for the most part there would be regular driver changes. Lately what we see are long-standing relationships between drivers and either teams or engine manufacturers. Lewis Hamilton has driven for Mercedes-powered teams since he entered F1. Max Verstappen has always been with Red Bull Racing in some form. George Russell has been a Mercedes junior for his entire career too. Even Lando Norris has been with McLaren for six seasons now, and he’s only 24! Leclerc staying at Ferrari makes a lot of sense from a continuity standpoint then.
This may affect the other seat at Ferrari though. Carlos Sainz, Jr. has been with the team for several seasons and has done well during his tenure. He has won two races over the past two seasons and has made some some savvy strategy calls as well. While he may not be as fast as Leclerc in qualifying on Saturdays, Sainz has demonstrated both great racecraft and decision-making during grand prix on Sundays. He’s a formidable driver in many respects but may not be in Ferrari’s future plans.
Ferrari is likely to continue building the team around Charles Leclerc for the next few seasons. He has a great relationship with Fred Vasseur and the team has seen what he can do with a good car. Leclerc is a driver who has the tools to make a championship run if he is given a competitive car. We saw hints of this in the first half of 2022 where he was right with Max Verstappen. If Ferrari can develop a good car that suits Leclerc’s driving style, make sound tactical decisions, and have good reliability; there’s no reason why they can’t challenge for a World Championship. I think that’s the calculation that the team has made, therefore they are committing their future to Charles Leclerc.
This somewhat mirrors what the team did in the mid-nineties. They brought in technical and team leadership from outside the company (think Ross Brawn, Rory Byrne, Jean Todt, Nigel Stepney, and others) that knew how to win. Then the company gave the race team time to put all the pieces in place to challenge for wins and later championships. So bringing in guys like Fred Vasseur last year represented the start of that process, which was a break from their recent past. The acid test will be how supportive Ferrari (the car company) is of Ferrari (the race team).
They got their driver though, so that should help matters.
Will it work though?
Time will tell…
POSTSCRIPT: Lawrence posted a worthwhile video on the Ferrari driver situation here. Take a look at it…
UPDATE: McLaren just announced that Lando Norris has extended his contract with the team.
