Charles Leclerc just isn’t glad. You do not want psychology experience to acknowledge it or perceive why. He not too long ago described himself and teammate Lewis Hamilton as “passengers” in a automotive with nothing extra to supply, and the final vestiges of any hope of salvaging one thing from a deeply disappointing season have disappeared.
However for Charles Leclerc, it is greater than simply 2026. As he turns 28, he can really feel the silent ticking of the clock getting slightly louder.th My birthday is approaching. In F1 phrases, he’s now middle-aged and arrived in F1 having by no means pushed a automotive ok to compete for a world championship.
There isn’t any doubt that he’s able to doing so. Most drivers on the grid imagine they’ll do it, and little question they are going to all say so, however Leclerc has confirmed it with constantly excellent performances in automobiles which might be generally good however by no means nice. Not solely has he demonstrated unimaginable skill since his early days in karting, and has frequently honed it to the purpose the place he’s rightly thought of one in every of F1’s greatest, however he has additionally confirmed that he can compete with F1’s present high canine, Max Verstappen.
Keep in mind the 2022 Bahrain Grand Prix, when Ferrari appeared like real title contenders for a quick interval within the first half of the season, after they outmaneuvered Verstappen within the battle for victory within the closing levels of the race? Whereas he wasn’t all the time on high, the actual fact that there have been flashpoints the place the 2 confronted off commonly and he held his personal in that meant a title showdown between this pair appeared prefer it was their future for a very long time. Leclerc cannot be blamed for tying his wagon to the flawed prancing horse and fearing he’ll by no means get the possibility to problem Verstappen or anybody else for the title.
Leclerc first joined Ferrari in his second yr in F1 in 2019 after a really spectacular season within the midfield with Sauber. He noticed off his teammate Sebastian Vettel, a four-time world champion, however by then he had fallen as a driver because of his personal experiences with poor outcomes, politics and failure at Ferrari, and regardless of being pushed arduous at occasions, Carlos Sainz was general the stronger Ferrari driver throughout their 4 years collectively. He has additionally comprehensively given up Lewis Hamilton to date. Which means Ferrari is indubitably his workforce, and have been for a while.
The query is whether or not it is a workforce that basically needs to be within the lead. By most requirements, Leclerc gained eight races there and completed second within the 2022 World Championship. However these are the statistics of a great Grand Prix driver, and Leclerc is way more than that. The proof is in his qualifying quantity. Some folks unfairly use it as a stick with beat him.. Of his unimaginable 27 pole positions, solely 5 resulted in victories. Some would argue that that is indicative of a driver who’s a qualifying specialist, able to pulling off nice laps on the fringe of his limits, however who is restricted by race circumstances. However that is not Leclerc. It is true that he’s thought of by many to be the quickest lapper in F1 as we speak, and that’s backed up by a string of notable pole positions – nobody, not even Verstappen, can dance as constantly on the skinny edge as he does.
Generally this occurs, particularly on avenue circuits, on account of an uncommon lap by a automotive that is not the quickest, however extra typically it is the results of a automotive which will have been the quickest in qualifying however did not have the race tempo to remain within the lead. Though he can dance throughout the limits of physics, he’s nonetheless sure by the boundaries of physics like another driver, and on race day his automotive regresses to the imply. Sure, he has needed to work on enhancing points of his recreation similar to tire administration, however he has accomplished very properly and constructed on a powerful job on Sunday.
The jury continues to be out on whether or not Leclerc can win the championship towards, say, Verstappen in an identical automotive, however that is so far as doubts all the time stay till a driver finds himself in such a state of affairs. He has fulfilled all of the circumstances to date, is revered by his colleagues and deserves the chance to strive himself.
Plus, he has to try this as a aggressive animal, which is what makes this yr so powerful. Many occasions this yr he has spoken with remorse about Ferrari’s robust run in 2024 and the way he had very excessive expectations following the near-miss within the constructors’ championship that disappeared within the early months of this yr. This concern started to emerge in testing, the place Ferrari didn’t look robust, and was confirmed by early struggles, giving solution to hopes that upgrades, notably the rear suspension modifications launched at Spa in July, would permit no less than some constructive outcomes to be recovered from 2025.
On the current Singapore Grand Prix weekend, he admitted that “it is not simple when you have not even seen any progress all yr lengthy” and stated it “takes loads of power” to include his frustration. A disappointing efficiency there and a disappointing efficiency on the final race in Azerbaijan, the place he crashed in Q3 and performed an enormous half in his struggles, seem to have taken the remaining wind out of his sails.
Ferrari’s final world title got here in 2008 after they gained the constructors’ championship with Kimi Raikkonen and Felipe Massa (above), and so they have to return yet another yr to win the final drivers’ championship courtesy of Raikkonen. Leclerc needs to finish Maranello’s dropping streak, however is Ferrari operating out of time to present him a ok automotive to take action? Mark Thompson/Getty Photographs
Drivers are properly conscious of how tough it’s to be ready to problem for the drivers’ championship in fashionable F1. Leclerc will look with envy at McLaren’s Lando Norris and Oscar Piastri and can little question really feel that he’s higher than them and deserves a automotive of that high quality. He will probably be asking himself if Ferrari can actually ship such a automotive, and can little question be prepared to commerce off his want to stay along with his beloved workforce for a very long time with the belief that he can not go away his profession to probability. Ferrari has not gained a world championship for the reason that constructors’ championship in document drought in 2008, however Leclerc’s religion in Fred Vasseur’s revolution will probably be shaken by this yr. He solely wants to take a look at Fernando Alonso to warn him of what’s going to occur if he finally ends up on the flawed workforce.
Whereas Alonso is actually a terrific participant and has earned his place amongst F1 legends, his final victory was an astonishing 12 years in the past, and people numbers do him no justice when in comparison with the statistics amassed by Lewis Hamilton, Max Verstappen and his arch-rival Michael Schumacher. Whether or not you place the blame on Alonso for poor decision-making, burning bridges or simply plain dangerous luck, it reveals how simple it’s to retreat from title rivalry. The truth that Alonso parted methods with Ferrari simply earlier than Ferrari returned to profitable territory, resulting in 2018, and the automotive that might presumably give him an opportunity on the championship, can be a warning that in the event you go away Maranello, you need to be very assured in your choice, given town’s unimaginable potential.
So the place does Leclerc’s pondering stand now? For now, he can not form his future till he is aware of the place Ferrari will line up within the 2026 standings. He’ll have an concept the place it’s, however realistically it is unattainable to make sure and conclusions will not begin to be drawn till the 2026 automotive, with its model new energy unit and considerably revised chassis guidelines, takes to the observe. Nonetheless, the efficiency profile will be unfold throughout the map, and it might take a while for a transparent sample to emerge.
However he’ll know when 26 years settles on a pattern of a small however important collection of occasions. If issues look dangerous for Ferrari, it may very well be the premise for the complete rule cycle to be shaken up and Leclerc may very well be extra seemingly so as to add fallow years to his age. The precise size of his contract is unknown, however it is going to run till no less than the top of 2028, which might put Leclerc in his early 30s. Ferrari must rebuild confidence in Ferrari early in 2026 or they are going to positively be obliged to look elsewhere.
In the meanwhile it’s unattainable to say the place he’ll go. Leclerc might look into the state of affairs in early 2026 to know which workforce is essentially the most fascinating and the place the alternatives lie, however for now we do not know. Any workforce in F1 could be excited by him, however the query is how the opposite chess items will probably be positioned. The query will subsequently not solely be whether or not he ought to go away Ferrari, however the place he ought to go.
Leclerc’s dream is to have Ferrari as his house. He has been on a roll since signing with the Ferrari Driver Academy in 2016 and goals of reaching legendary standing as Ferrari World Champion. If he does, it is going to have an identical influence to Michael Schumacher’s 2000 championship win, ending a 20-year drivers’ championship drought. This yr is now the 18th yr of an identical dry spell relationship again to Kimi Raikkonen’s title in 2007. That alone might imply that Leclerc might grow to be an vital determine in Ferrari’s historical past.
What is evident is that he should make goal and grounded choices. F1 careers are quick, and in the event you’re satisfied that Ferrari will not offer you a automotive, it’s essential not solely goal for the title, but in addition keep away from the danger of staying in an surroundings the place you lack confidence and changing into stagnant as a driver. The hope is that he will not must take such drastic motion and that Ferrari will bounce again subsequent yr and make 2025 only a blip. It is not unattainable. Regardless of widespread expectations that Mercedes has the strongest energy unit, this stays unproven, because the 2026 mannequin would be the first automotive conceived underneath Loic Serra’s technical management.
One factor is for certain: Leclerc will proceed to ship his greatest efficiency in a automotive that was solely fourth general this yr, regardless of nonetheless chasing second place within the constructors’ championship. Whereas doing so, he’ll really feel the light stress of time regularly growing in depth, nearly imperceptibly, as he waits for what he nonetheless feels with absolute certainty his future to win the world championship.
He hopes Ferrari’s efficiency will clear up the issue, however he should be much less assured than ever that it’s going to occur sooner or later.
