Charles Leclerc has often been touted as the next driver to bring the championship glory back to Maranello, but the Monegasque’s patience with Ferrari is seemingly running out. According to a new report, the 27-year-old is contemplating his options to leave the Italian giant if the prancing horses don’t hit the ground running with the 2026 regulations reset.
Leclerc became an F1 driver under the reigns of Ferrari as he was part of the driver academy when he made his debut for Alfa Romeo (now Sauber) in 2018. His performances at the Hinwill-based squad assured Ferrari that he would be the future of the team, and in his sophomore year, he was promoted to the works outfit.
While he won two races in his debut year with the team, apart from a few race wins, he has not been able to challenge for the drivers’ title for the length of a season. Though McLaren is the current benchmark in F1, with the 2026 regulations reset aiming to level up the playing field, Leclerc and Ferrari’s biggest chance at a championship seems to be the 2026 season.
However, the uncertainty surrounding whether the Scuderia would be able to produce a championship-worthy challenger remains in the background. So, according to Corriere Dello Sport, the Monegasque could try to ditch Ferrari as soon as the 2027 season, after assessing how the playing field has changed with the advent of the new regulations.
This would mean that Charles Leclerc would end his tenure at the Maranello-based squad earlier with the help of clauses in his contract. Thus, the multi-year contract extension that he had signed in 2024 could end its duty earlier than anticipated.
Charles Leclerc rues a difficult race in Singapore
Ferrari and Charles Leclerc arrived at the Singapore GP with high hopes owing to their previous successes in the qualifying format. But the weekend played out totally differently as the Monegasque finished the race in sixth, while Lewis Hamilton was plagued by a brake failure and ended the race in P8 after accounting for his post-race penalty.
Reflecting on a subpar weekend at the Marina Bay Circuit, Leclerc said (via F1’s official website):
“It was a really difficult race, unfortunately, a reflection of the whole weekend. Right from Friday, we struggled to find the right feeling with the car and we never managed to put everything together in the way we would have wanted. Today, in traffic it was impossible to move forward, as we also had to deal with cooling problems. Sadly, where we finished reflects where we are today.”
“Over the past two races we have encountered various difficulties that we must now analyse in detail, so that we can start improving again. The aim is to be better prepared and ready to fight with our main rivals in two weeks’ time in the United States.”
Charles Leclerc sits fifth in the interim drivers’ standings.
alt=”Geetansh Pasricha” height=”72″ width=”72″>
Edited by Geetansh Pasricha
