Despite $204,000,000 Rumors, Charles Leclerc Finds Himself Shunned from “Ferrari Priority” Ahead of Italian GP

The silly season has become a never-ending loop and there is a new driver or entity in the spotlight all the time. Now that Lewis Hamilton‘s contract situation is resolved the world of F1 has a new driver to focus on, Charles Leclerc. The Monegasque signed the longest contract Ferrari has ever offered anyone four years ago. Now that the contract is coming to an end in 2024, the beloved Ferrari man would love to extend his contract and stay for a few more years. In fact, we came across rumors of a mega $200+ million multi-year contract as well. However, as revealed by Leclerc himself ahead of the home GP, the Monegasque is not on the Ferrari priority list at the moment.

Ahead of the Italian GP, Leclerc was asked about his expiring contract at the end of the next season on the F1: Chequered Flag podcast. The “perfect fit”  Monegasuque confessed his love for Ferrari once again and revealed how he would love to extend his stay. However, in his own words, he is currently not a “Ferrari priority”.

“The thing that is correct is obviously I will always love Ferrari and I would love to stay,” said Leclerc. He then revealed, “No discussion has started yet. Honestly, I’m not in a rush. I don’t think Ferrari’s priority is signing me at the moment which is understandable because we are just all focused on trying to have the best race car possible, as quickly as possible.

Charles expressed his openness to wait out patiently for a better long-term solution on his contract extension at Maranello. He added, “And I understand that so for now, we’re just focusing on the season. I’m sure talks will arrive at one point during this season, probably a bit later on this season as Fred (Vasseur) said many times. There are some jokes here and there but not serious talks yet.”

A heartbreaking reality check but understandable for all. Ferrari does need to pull up its socks and deliver a much better car than they have at the moment. If they don’t it could become a topic of contention in the inevitable contract extension talks.

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Charles Leclerc reveals the difficult conditions of his contract extension

There is no doubt in anyone’s mind Ferrari would love to extend the contract of their main man. However, Leclerc could take the same route as Hamilton and stall his contract extension until he sees improvement. Improvement that Ferrari desperately needs to give Leclerc a fighting chance for the championship. So staying in the present, Leclerc highlighted his and the team’s priority, the car!

Leclerc said, “First, I’ve got a season to finish in 2023, but we can only go in another direction because at the moment the car is really difficult to drive. It’s just very, very difficult to be on the limit.”

We are not sure if the remainder of the current and the next season will be enough time for Ferrari to turn things around. However, if they’re planning to keep their star driver, they better pull a rabbit out of their hat.

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