“Nothing Real and Serious”: Charles Leclerc Exposes Toto Wolff’s Cheap Tactics While $204,000,000 Deal Awaits

It’s been almost 5 years since Charles Leclerc joined Ferrari. Since then, he’s expressed just how much he’s devoted to the team, saying how—like Sebastian Vettel did—he wants to win a championship with the Scuderia. Despite their immense talent, Vettel couldn’t do it during his time with Ferrari, nor has Leclerc managed it. Unlike them, Kimi Raikkonen joined the team, delivered what he was asked, didn’t expect too much, and won the championship in 2007—and is still Ferrari’s last drivers’ champion. Maybe that’s what the problem is.

Since joining Ferrari, Leclerc has been hell-bent on winning that championship, adding more pressure on Ferrari than it already has, which has led to quite underwhelming seasons lately. Despite this, the Monegasque has no intention of leaving Maranello, and while expressing his intent on sticking with Ferrari, he revealed Toto Wolff’s cheap tactics.

Mercedes was never an option for Charles Leclerc

While Red Bull has been making headlines for its on-track performances and the records it’s breaking, Ferrari and Mercedes—who’re trying to play catch-up—have been making waves more because of their off-track actions. To paint a clearer picture, there were rumors that Ferrari offered Lewis Hamilton a $49 million offer to join Maranello next season, and Toto Wolff and Mercedes seemed interested in a swap deal with Leclerc. Turns out, it was nothing more than superficial interest.

To add to these rumors, Leclerc was speculated to have contract negotiations with Ferrari for post-2024 while Hamilton was doing the same at Mercedes. What came of this was that the Monegasque might’ve signed a 2+3 year deal worth $204 million, meaning that he could potentially stay at Ferrari until the end of 2029. While discussing his intent on staying with the Scuderia with Italian magazine La Repubblica, the topic of Mercedes’ interest came up. Although Ferrari did come close to challenging Red Bull last season, Mercedes has had more recent experience actually fighting for championships. 

Considering the expertise the Brackley team has, there might be a possibility it would return to the front quicker than Ferrari, making the Mercedes prospect a tempting one. But when asked about talks with Toto Wolff, as quoted by Formula Passion, Leclerc said they were “Nothing real and serious, ever.” While a Leclerc-Mercedes union isn’t in the cards in the near future, the Monegasque and Hamilton came together to express their concern about F1’s future.

Read More: “I Wish”: Charles Leclerc Still Unsure of $204,000,000 Future Despite Roadblocking Lewis Hamilton’s Ferrari Dreams

Charles Leclerc and Lewis Hamilton see eye-to-eye about Red Bull’s domination

Coming into the Dutch GP this weekend—the 13th race of the season—Red Bull has been on a 12-race-winning streak, basically meaning that the Milton-Keynes outfit has won every race this season. It’s no secret it has a significant advantage over everyone else this season, with Max Verstappen on his way to equalling Vettel’s 2013 record of 9 race wins in a row. While discussing this utter domination on media day in Zandvoort, Leclerc said, “They have a really big margin, and it’s going to be very difficult to catch them before the change of regulations.” 

The 2026 season is set to change everything with its new engine regulations, incorporating more electrical power—a change to fasten F1’s aim to become carbon-neutral by 2030. Considering that’s still three years away, Hamilton said, “We don’t have a rule change coming up, so I’m going to hope [a continued Red Bull dominance] is not the case. They are 100, 200 points ahead in the championship, so it is very, very possible that Charles [Leclerc] could be right.”

Did you think Charles Leclerc had a real chance to go to Mercedes, or was it all just for show?

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