Charles Leclerc has dismissed suggestions that he might be assessing options outside Ferrari amid the team’s struggle to deliver him a competitive car in Formula 1.
Having fought McLaren to the wire in the Constructors’ Championship in the previous campaign, the Italian marque is close to concluding the current season winless.
That’s ensured that Leclerc’s intra-team dominance over seven-time F1 champion Lewis Hamilton has meant little as he trails a huge 163 points behind Oscar Piastri.
Ferrari’s competitive decline has prompted Leclerc’s prospects to be brought into the limelight, with next season’s regulation changes labelled as critical to his future.
However, the Monegasque, who signed a long-term deal with the team in 2023, has insisted that his desire remains to bring an end to Ferrari’s prolonged title drought.
“What I can say is what I’ve always said, and that’s very clear,” Leclerc, who has eight wins in seven seasons at Ferrari told media including Motorsport Week in Austin.
“I’ve always loved Ferrari so much and my only obsession at the moment is to win in red, whether it’s now or in the future. And I want to bring back Ferrari to the top.”
Leclerc shuts down Ferrari rumours
The speculation surrounding Leclerc has coincided with claims that Ferrari chairman John Elkann has held discussions with erstwhile Red Bull boss Christian Horner.
Like Hamilton, though, Leclerc has given no credence to the rumours doing the rounds, ones which he has become accustomed to when Ferrari is struggling on track.
“And I would like to add there are lots of speculations around me, but just in general around the team for whatever reason,” he added.
“I feel like there are too many people speaking [about] things not coming from actual facts, and it’s just a little bit annoying.
“It’s always been like that. And I think as a driver, but I think as a team, we’ve just got to focus on our things, which is what we are doing.
“But it’s just not great and not super nice to see all these things around the team all the time.
“It’s definitely not a situation we want to be in, in a way that the performance is not at the level where we want to be.
“But we are all focused on trying to turn that situation around, as I was saying.
“And whenever there is a situation where the results are not there, then there are always those rumours around that come back.
“But yeah, I mean, what I say today is what I’ve said in the past six or seven years with the team.”
READ MORE – Lewis Hamilton addresses Christian Horner to Ferrari rumours
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