Ferrari and Charles Leclerc have extended their partnership past the end of 2024, although no concrete details surrounding the contract have been released thus far. Leclerc seemed content in his decision, commenting,
“I’m very pleased to know that I will be wearing the Scuderia Ferrari race suit for several more seasons to come.”
Charles Leclerc
The Monegasque driver has had a longstanding relationship with Scuderia Ferrari, the official racing division of the luxury Italian auto manufacturer. Joining the Ferrari Driving Academy in 2016, Leclerc has been a very prominent driver in the world of racing for quite a while now. He joined the Ferrari team as a permanent instalment in 2019 and has been their number-one driver for most of that period.
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Leclerc and Ferrari have always seemed like a pair made to race together. The Scuderia driver is held in massively high regard with the Tifosi, Ferrari’s most passionate fans. Their bond goes back to his days as an academy driver, with the group believing he embodies what it means to race in a Scuderia Ferrari livery.
Throughout their relationship, Leclerc has racked up five race wins and a substantial 23 pole positions with Ferrari. In the 2022 F1 season, Leclerc and Ferrari came the closest it has been in almost two decades to winning the Drivers’ and Constructor’s World Championships respectively. They started very fast out of the gates, with Leclerc seemingly posing as a real title challenger, winning two of the first three races. After that point, however, both the team and the driver plateued. A very problematic mix of vehicle reliability issues, deplorable strategy, and (although rare) driver error saw the team fall distantly behind the would-be World Champions, Max Verstappen and Red Bull Racing. Through faults of both parties, Ferrari and Leclerc limped to the season’s end, stuck in a second-place purgatory for much of the campaign.
The aging partnership seemingly still has some kinks to work out prior to the upcoming season’s start. Although they came “close” in 2022, 2023 was simply a step in the wrong direction. A car unable to compete with the best coupled with, once again, poor strategy, pushed Ferrari into a measly 3rd place in the 2023 Constructors standings and Leclerc to 5th in the Drivers standings.
Although the same issues have plagued Ferrari for decades now, Leclerc has constantly shown that he is a driver trying to change the status quo. He is not only among the best drivers in the field but could easily be considered the very best. Leclerc is a driver that could win a race on any given day, regardless of the circumstances. To be the World Champion, however, consistency is the final factor. This will be an engaging plot in the 2024 iteration of the Formula One campaign, testing both the limits of the driver and manufacturer as they continue to chase the silverware they desire.
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