Leclerc has renewed with Ferrari
Charles Leclerc and Ferrari have extended the contract that binds the Monegasque to the Maranello Scuderia. Leclerc was not expiring with the Red team and this announcement in the week leading up to the Monaco GP definitively cements a relationship destined to enter history regardless of what the past and future results on track have been and will be. Below are all the nuances of an announcement that says a lot if not a great deal.
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Overtaking Schumacher in terms of GP with the red
As is now customary in F1, it was not made explicit until when Charles Leclerc’s contract with Ferrari was extended. The agreements include bilateral performance clauses that are rightfully known only to the parties involved.
2027 will be Leclerc’s ninth F1 World Championship season at the wheel of Ferrari, Michael Schumacher is not yet that close because the Kaiser raced uninterruptedly with Ferrari from 1996 to 2006, but in terms of GPs raced with the extra-large calendars Leclerc will definitely surpass Schumacher.
Did Leclerc have alternatives?
The 2026 starting grid has essentially remained unchanged from 2025 at least as far as the top drivers who have not moved. Everyone’s tactic was more than understandable, namely to discover the competitiveness of the teams with the new regulations. Charles Leclerc’s manager, Nicholas Todt, was certainly in contact with Lawrence Stroll for a possible future of Leclerc at Aston Martin, but the English team failed across the board. Ferrari, on the other hand, produced an excellent SF-26 which only lacks a power unit up to par, but evidently Charles Leclerc is convinced that the possibility of exploiting the ADUO will give Ferrari the chance to be title contenders if not already in 2026 then at least in 2027.
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The Maranello Scuderia did not replicate the sprint start of 2022, but this time the dynamic could reverse: over the distance Ferrari could definitively swim upstream instead of succumbing as in 2022-2023. This at least is Leclerc’s hope, which could also be based on some greater certainties. Surely there were no alternatives available to try to win immediately, so betting again on the red was the best option for Leclerc.
The message to Hamilton
After Sebastian Vettel and Carlos Sainz, Charles Leclerc was put in direct comparison with Lewis Hamilton, the most winning driver in F1 history by the numbers. No sign of distrust from Ferrari towards Leclerc, but certainly Hamilton’s arrival was not an act of total devotion by the Maranello Scuderia towards the Monegasque. Now, however, Leclerc has already put in black and white that he will continue to be ‘Always Red’. Ferrari is and will remain ‘Leclerc’s home’ regardless of what Hamilton’s future will be, who recently declared he is ready to race for another five years.
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