Leclerc set to exit Ferrari

Last Updated on August 9 2025, 9:20 pm

Max Verstappen is known as the destroyer of his F1 team mates careers. With the exception of Daniel Ricciardo, the Dutch driver has crushed the likes of Alex Albon, Pierre Gasly, Sergio Perez and now this year finished off Liam Lawson in just two race weekends, while Yuki Tsunoda has scored seven points to Max’s 126 across their twelve outings together as team mates.

Yet Charles Leclerc is quietly following in the footsteps of the four times world champion. He saw off Marcus Ericson in his rookie year with Sauber in 2019, before moving to Ferrari and dominating quadruple world champion Sebastian Vettel 23-11 in qualifying. When Carlos Sainz joined Ferrari in 2021, the team mate battle was resolved by one point in the Spaniard’s favour come Abu Dhabi, but in their other three seasons of racing it was Leclerc who came out on top. Their qualifying tally was 41-22 in favour of the Monegasque driver.

Now Leclerc is embarrassing his new team mate, seven times champion driver Lewis Hamilton. The pair are separated by 42 points in the drivers title race but Hamilton is 10-4 down in GP qualifying and the race head to head stands at 12-2 in Leclerc’s favour.

 

 

 

Ferrari good on Saturday’s

Much of the focus this season has been on Ferrari’s misstep from last year, when they finished the campaign with the quickest car. Then there have been the trials and tribulations of Lewis Hamilton plastered across the back pages most race weekends, the latest being the headlines that Hamilton said he’s “utterly useless” and that Ferrari should consider ‘changing the driver.’

However, Charles Leclerc with his five podium finishes, is the one quietly trying to recover what is another failed season for his Ferrari team and his moved results over Hamilton is what sees the team in second place and not third behind Mercedes. Now in his seventh season with the Scuderia, with the exception of 2019, 2022 and 2024 the team have not given him a car capable of regular race wins.

In fact Leclerc’s number of pole positions (28) when compared to his race wins (8) tell the story of Ferrari’s journey over the past decade or so. Their car is quick on Saturday, but come the Grand Prix is nowhere. During Leclerc’s seven seasons with the Scuderia, the team have won just 10 Grand Prix from 121 Grand Prix and Sebastian Vettel in his six year tenure won 14 races in red.

Fernando Alosno in just four years at Ferrari won 11 GP and even the driver forced to play second fiddle to the Spaniard, Felipe Massa, also won 11 times on Sunday. Such has been the poor equipment Leclerc has been given during his time in Maranello.

Insider Reports: ‘2026 Ferrari, a Title-Winning Car Designed for Lewis’

 

 

 

Italian reports Leclerc eyes up a move

Whilst it would be nonsensical for Leclerc to leave Ferrari in 2026, given the huge rules reset and the possibility of any of the front running teams acing their car design, come Abud Dhabi next year he will have completed eight seasons with the Scuderia. Should Ferrari fail the 2026 regulation car deign regulation tests, it will be surely time for the highly rated Monegasque driver to look elsewhere as he turns 29 years of age.

With his prime years about to be visible in his rear view mirror and a host of gloriously talented rookies coming through in F1, Leclerc’s time to win a championship may be more limited than he realises. Reports in the Italian media suggest Leclerc could quit Ferrari before there end of his 2029 dated contract. Corriere della Sera claims he could exercise an exit clause in this deal, if Ferrari are off the pace once more next year.

It also claims that Leclerc has even lost faith in the team’s new 2026 challenger, as paddock whispers persist in suggesting it will be Mercedes who ace the new powertrain specifications. Leclerc has repeatedly denied speculation he is looking elsewhere, most recently to Sky Italia in Hungary. “I drive for Ferrari, and that means a lot. Being part of this team and of Ferrari is an honour for me.

“My main goal right now is to bring it back to winning ways, and I owe Ferrari so much because they brought me into F1, they brought me in Ferrari. We need to win now. Of course I’m not indifferent to other drivers winning, like Max or Lando and Oscar now. But I’m focused on bringing this team back to the top. I will do anything with Fred and with Lewis to win again. That’s my only obsession.”

Horner set to buy Alpine

 

 

 

Charles v Max dream team

Of course few if any F1 drivers would threaten their team in public that they’ll walk away, but how long will it be until Ferrari exit the drought that saw their last championship back in 2008. In days of yore, the Ferrari group wold have thrown hundreds of millions at developing the best car, but in the new F1 era of financial restrictions, this will not again be possible.

For now Charles Leclerc has few options of a front running drive elsewhere on the grid and with rookies impressing the competition amongst the F1 drivers has never been hotter. McLaren are unlikely to change their driver lineup any time soon, and Mercedes are hoping Kimi Antonelli will deliver the promise they have seen in him.

Should Red Bull pull off the impossible and become the first F1 customer team to build a winning engine, maybe F1 would get its most challenging pairing in a generation, with the Ferrari ‘team mate destroyer’ up against the master, Max Verstappen. An eye watering prospect indeed for F1 fans, but one which is a distant probability or now. 

 

 

 

 

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Alpine’s loss was McLaren and Piastri’s gain, but the rate of progress Piastri has shown has been nothing short of astonishing. In his first two years with the papaya liveried team, the Aussie was comfortable beaten by his team mate as he struggled with tyre management.

This season however, Piastri has been a revelation although his season didn’t start well as in the closing stages in Melbourne he spun at the final corner slipping from P2 to P10. Following Lando Norris crash and loss of ten points in Canada, it was his team mate who had a significant advantage over him of 22 points…. READ MORE