Ferrari yet to make Leclerc decision

Ferrari junior and Sauber driver, Charles Leclerc, is yet to know where he’ll be driving next year, as revealed by Sauber boss, Frederic Vasseur.

That has impacted the Sauber team, as they cannot decide on their 2019 line-up until and unless they know of Leclerc’s availability. When asked by Motorsport.com on whether they’ll wait for Ferrari before making decisions, Vasseur admitted that they may ‘choose first.’

“We could [choose first], but the line-up is important. The combination is an important point and it is always much better to know who both are,” he said. He also insisted that they were putting no pressure on Ferrari to make a quick decision.

“I am not pressuring Ferrari at all, I think you are pressuring Ferrari much more than I am,” he stated.

“I don’t know when they confirmed Kimi last year. I think it was much later into the season… it is not because [Daniel] Ricciardo moved that everybody has to take the decision within a week.”

Leclerc has taken to F1 like a fish to water, as he has outpaced teammate, Marcus Ericsson, in almost all the races this season. He has repeatedly put his car in Q3, something no one expected.

He was reportedly in line for a Ferrari seat next season onwards, and reports even emerged of a $5 million pay, as long as Sergio Marchionne was in charge. However, the ex-Ferrari boss died after a post-surgery complication.

Since then, Kimi Raikkonen has been thought to be the favourite to get a contract extension, at least for the next two years. And no one can argue that he does not deserve it.

He has been extremely consistent this season, with five consecutive podiums before Spa, where he retired after being bumped into by Ricciardo. However, he bounced back in some style in Monza.

After being behind teammate, Vettel, in practice sessions and most parts of qualifying, he pulled off one of the best qualifying laps ever as he dished out the fastest lap in F1 history to secure pole at the home race for Ferrari.

He’ll be hoping to convert that into a race win later today, which will be his first since the 2013 Australian Grand Prix, where he took victory for Lotus.