Charles Leclerc says contract talks with Ferrari are not currently on his or the team’s agenda, insisting its still “very early” to address his future with the Scuderia.
Leclerc heads into his fifth season with the Italian outfit, have made his debut with Ferrari in 2019 after a single year in F1 with Sauber.
The Monegasque collected two wins in his maiden season with the House of Maranello and added three victories to his track record last year during Ferrari’s run of form in the first half of its campaign.
Last month, Scuderia boss Fred Vasseur acknowledged that contract renewal discussions with Leclerc and Carlos Sainz were not a priority, a state of affairs that the former confirmed.
©Ferrari
“No, there are no talks ongoing now, at least,” Leclerc told Sky Sports F1. “I love the red colour. I love Ferrari. I am happy here. But we’ll see what the future holds.
“It is very early to speak about this. My contract ends [at the end of 2024].”
With rumors that Mercedes is taking a keen interest in Leclerc as a possible successor to Lewis Hamilton, the Monegasque’s future with Ferrari could hinge on the team’s ability to challenge consistently for the world title this year.
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Leclerc says that Ferrari has worked hard over the winter to improve the reliability of its car, a weak point last season along with the team’s strategy and execution that undermined its form in the early part of the season.
“The big work was done on reliability. I don’t want to express too much, but there has been a lot of work,” he said.
“I hope we won’t have a lot of reliability issues. We finished second in the Drivers’ and Constructors’ championships, and the logical next step is to win. We know how difficult it will be. But we are putting a lot of work in.
“It will be a difficult championship, but we’ll do everything in our hands to make it work.”
Assessing his prospects, Leclerc expects Hamilton to bounce back from his winless campaign in 2022 if Mercedes’ new W14 carries the team back to the front of the grid.
“Lewis will never be out of the question for a championship fight; if he has the car, he will be there,” reckoned Leclerc. “We must not forget what he has achieved. He still has it. We saw that plenty of times last year.
“Mercedes, I am sure, will be there. They had a very strong end to the season last year. Lewis will be there, like Red Bull will be too.”
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