Ferrari’s disenchanting state has been among the biggest talking points since the 2025 Formula 1 campaign began – but amid all the doom and gloom that has encompassed the team, Charles Leclerc has been a shining light.
Leclerc came into this season with the optimism that, at long last, he would have the equipment underneath him to mount a sustained run at the Drivers’ Championship.
Ferrari had shown encouraging signs as the previous campaign drew to a close as a late surge saw it come up 14 points short of pipping McLaren to the Constructors’ crown.
Leclerc had spearheaded that charge with two victories – an emotional triumph on Ferrari’s home soil at Monza and a controlled race in Austin – to emerge as the highest points scorer across the last eight rounds.
Despite his visible disappointment at seeing Ferrari’s protracted championship drought since 2008 continue, Leclerc had reason to be hopeful about the team’s 2025 prospects as he departed the Yas Island in Abu Dhabi to embark upon a well-earned winter break.
Having seen initial promise in 2024 subside as complications with mid-season upgrades stunted the SF-24’s competitiveness, Ferrari demonstrated a newfound resilience under Fred Vasseur’s guidance to recover from a blow that could have derailed the campaign.
With the Italian marque also showcasing a proactiveness on the pit wall that had been absent since the Jean Todt days, Ferrari, with another astute Frenchman at the helm, appeared to have assembled the essential structure to return to the pinnacle.
Lewis Hamilton’s arrival in Maranello as a seven-time F1 champion in the sport’s most anticipated driver move to partner the incumbent Leclerc, who had underlined his status as a champion in waiting with his exploits in 2024, ensured nothing less than a title would constitute a success this season.
But 11 rounds into the campaign, Ferrari remains without a single Grand Prix win and lies an alarming 207 points behind McLaren. So, despite Vasseur’s insistence that the team hasn’t always maximised the car’s potential, there is no disguising that Ferrari has regressed compared to the competition.
Ferrari’s existing limitations have prompted scepticism to be directed at the team’s call to commit to extensive changes in a bid to expand the SF-25’s scope for development.
But even though it was indeed Hamilton who capitalised on the rare occasion when the car could be run in an uncompromised state to take Ferrari’s sole win in the China Sprint, Leclerc has been the standout driver in red.
The Monegasque native has out-qualified Hamilton on all but three occasions and has outraced him 10 times in 11 races, while also scooping all four of Ferrari’s podium results.
Hamilton has highlighted that driving a Ferrari has become second nature to Leclerc, who is now in his seventh season with the team. And while there is substance to the Briton’s repeated assertion, Leclerc is also not at one with the SF-25 and has had to reinvent his driving using “extreme” set-ups to manage the car’s capricious tendencies.
Even in the circumstance where Ferrari’s remaining upgrades transform the SF-25 into a package that can accomplish consistent podiums and even the occasional race win, a run at either championship has long gone.
That alone wouldn’t be enough to please an ambitious individual like Leclerc, one who has gone through multiple rebuilds that haven’t produced close to the success that his patience or performances have merited.
As such, rumours have arisen alleging that Leclerc has begun to express doubt about seeing through his Ferrari contract to 2029.
Leclerc dismissed that to be the case over the Monaco Grand Prix weekend, though, telling L’Equipe that his trust in Vasseur to guide Ferrari back to the top is unwavering.
Asked whether there is a chance that he could leave Ferrari, Leclerc replied: “Of course not, there is absolutely no chance. I believe in the project and I believe in Fred. Clearly, it’s a complicated moment and in times like this it’s easy to have doubts. But I’m not thinking about leaving Ferrari, I want to win with Ferrari. And I will stay as long as I believe in this project. And I believe in it. I’ve always said I have total trust in Fred and I truly believe he is the right person to bring Ferrari back to the top. He really is the one who can make it win. I’ve always said that.”
However, the reports regarding Leclerc have emanated at a time when there is also speculation concerning Vasseur’s position. According to numerous Italian publications, Ferrari’s senior bosses have grown agitated at the limited progress that has been made to address the SF-25’s glaring weaknesses. The suggestion is that the Maranello-based squad’s impending revision to the rear suspension could make-or-break whether Vasseur’s given time to correct matters.
Nonetheless, Ferrari even allocating the slightest consideration to swinging open the revolving door once more to make another change right at the top would be a short-sighted decision that could edge Leclerc closer towards planning his own departure.
Leclerc emphasised his commitment to Ferrari in Canada and, along with his team-mate, reiterated his trust in Vasseur’s vision.
“Well, we surely have a vision that we share as [a] three. You know, Fred, Lewis and myself, in order to try and get back to winning,” he said to media including Motorsport Week. “We’ve been working to put that all together. And so, yeah, this is for sure our plan. I think we should stick to it.”
Regardless, Leclerc honouring his existing deal is guaranteed to depend more on the baseline that Ferrari establishes under the revamped technical rules coming in 2026 than on whoever is overseeing the group.
The overriding impression in the paddock that Mercedes has stolen a march when it comes to development on the brand-new power units doesn’t bode well in that regard.
Several notable paddock figures have voiced concern that it could set Mercedes up to dominate as it did when the regulations were overhauled in 2014, though the German marque’s customer teams – including reigning champions McLaren – are better-equipped to provide stern competition now.
But Ferrari being condemned to playing catch-up could be the watershed moment that entices Leclerc to adopt a more serious stance towards evaluating external options.
Leclerc wouldn’t be begrudged electing to head on to pastures new; renowned as a prodigious talent since he graduated to a Ferrari race drive, he has been limited to eight race victories due to circumstances that have tended to be outside his control.
Hamilton’s arrival has served to expose the limitations at Ferrari that have long held the team back, the Briton having been vocal in his criticism towards the changes that are needed to bring the Maranello-based squad up to the precise standard that he had been accustomed to during his spell at Mercedes.
The Briton’s disdain towards some protocols behind the scenes at Ferrari, combined with his own personal struggle to adapt to the SF-25 on track, since his much-anticipated winter move has helped to disprove several narratives that have been used as a stick to suggest that Leclerc has contributed to the squad’s elongated championship drought.
Unlike Hamilton, though, Leclerc’s legacy within the sport is not set in stone as he approaches a pivotal phase in his F1 career, one where emotion cannot overrule rational.
At 27, Leclerc is in his prime and deserves to be contesting titles season in, season out. He has been Ferrari’s highest-scoring driver on all but one occasion over the previous seven seasons, but the machinery beneath him not being up to scratch has meant he has little to show for his internal dominance.
Despite beating two multiple-time World Champions in Sebastian Vettel and now Hamilton during that time, Leclerc has been consigned to witnessing his contemporaries go on to taste sustained success elsewhere.
Verstappen, Leclerc’s main childhood rival, has cemented his place among the all-time greats with four consecutive titles to his name, alongside 65 wins and 117 podiums.
But while Red Bull’s dominance has been curtailed, McLaren has been the team to pick up the baton since mid-2024, with Lando Norris, who was threatening to be in an identical position to Leclerc, having his patience rewarded with an all-conquering car in 2025 that has given him a golden chance to bring an end to Verstappen’s title reign.
Even those who are new on the scene such as Oscar Piastri are primed to surpass him. The Australian, now in his third campaign, has capitalised on McLaren’s remarkable turnaround under Andrea Stella to lead the championship standings and he could equal Leclerc’s win haul on Sunday at Silverstone.
But although an opening with the current pacesetters can be discounted with both Norris and Piastri tied to long-term deals, Leclerc signalling that he is available would be guaranteed to attract suitors elsewhere.
Mercedes boss Toto Wolff divulged that he harboured an interest in Leclerc the last time there were murmurings that he could be persuaded to look beyond Ferrari in 2023.
On that occasion, Vasseur’s appointment was imperative to Leclerc remaining, a new long-term deal being signed once the ex-Alfa Romeo chief’s maiden campaign concluded.
However, Red Bull advisor Helmut Marko, who branded Leclerc the best talent outside Verstappen in 2020, disclosed that there are certain exit clauses which would permit a premature release should he wish to move.
Red Bull boss Christian Horner is reputed to have been involved in tentative discussions with George Russell, an indication that he is assessing contingencies in case Verstappen becomes disillusioned and seeks to utilise the break clauses inserted into his own deal.
Verstappen is a man in demand amid questions over his situation at Red Bull. Both Mercedes and Aston Martin are touted as viable destinations that could give him the chance to continue racking up the statistics.
Aston Martin’s unsubstantiated interest in Verstappen and Russell indicates the team is exploring the longer-term options outside Fernando Alonso, who turns 44 next month.
Aston Martin is in an even graver position than Ferrari in the short term as it resides eighth in the Constructors’ Championship, but billionaire owner Lawrence Stroll has devoted lavish amounts to expanding and renovating the team’s Silverstone base, supplementing that expenditure with several headline technical recruits as he strives to transcend the marque into title challengers.
With esteemed design guru Adrian Newey heading up the technical organisation and a works engine partnership with Honda, Aston Martin has been tipped to hit the ground running once the revised rules land in 2026.
Leclerc piloting a Newey-designed Aston Martin is a tantalising prospect should the results match the ambition being shown and would hand the team a credible succession plan to Alonso once he opts to move aside.
Nevertheless, Leclerc would be a positive addition to every team on the grid and seeing him dressed in overalls not bearing the Ferrari emblem would provide the greatest possible indictment against the team’s capabilities to come out on top in the sport.
At a time when there is scepticism about Verstappen’s prospects and how integral his presence is to Red Bull remaining a leading threat, Leclerc’s predicament at Ferrari should be spoken about in an identical tone.
Their career accolades are not comparable, but, like Red Bull minus Verstappen, Ferrari would be guaranteed to be weaker without Leclerc featured in the team’s driver line-up.
Ferrari pulled out all the stops to acquire Hamilton’s services, but the Italian brand’s senior management would be well-minded to ensure it does not proceed to lose perhaps the F1 outfit’s most priceless possession.
Leclerc is indebted to the support Ferrari has invested in him. But at some stage his irritation at the marque’s continuous failings will outstrip the perpetual sentiment that continues to bind him to the Prancing Horse.
Leclerc will remain Ferrari’s favourite son no matter what transpires; however, time will tell whether he has to leave home to fulfil the potential that has been too contained in red.
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