Charles Leclerc clarifies Ferrari commitment - would he leave for F1 title shot?

Charles Leclerc has reaffirmed his commitment to Ferrari, insisting that his ultimate goal remains winning a Formula 1 title with the team.

Despite being a Ferrari driver since 2019, Leclerc has just eight grand prix victories to his name.

He’s yet to mount a serious title challenge since joining them.

Ferrari started 2022 with the fastest car on the grid but struggled with in-season development.

In 2024, Ferrari narrowly missed out on the constructors’ title, finishing 14 points behind McLaren.

However, at no point in the season did Ferrari have the outright fastest car.

With either Oscar Piastri or Lando Norris set to win the title this year, it put Leclerc’s commitment to Ferrari in question.

With Ferrari not giving Leclerc the tools to compete with the McLaren duo or Max Verstappen, should he question his future?

Leclerc still has total belief in Ferrari ahead of the new rules in 2026.

Talking to reporters in Baku, Leclerc said: “Because I love this team very much, I think that’s the answer. I’ve always loved Ferrari and that’s where I draw my motivation from because I want to bring back Ferrari to the top, no matter how long it takes.

“I’ll do absolutely everything until I stop believing in the project, but at the moment I’m fully into it, I’m fully working on it and that’s what motivates me.”

Ferrari’s 2025 car has failed to live up to expectations.

The SF-25 hasn’t won a Grand Prix this year, meaning Ferrari are the only team inside the top four of the constructors’ championship without a victory in 2025.

“Of course that doesn’t erase the disappointment that I had at the beginning of the season when I saw that we were quite a few steps behind McLaren. But then you reset and you find your motivation in other goals, in other targets, which is now to hopefully get a win this year,” Leclerc added.

“It’s underwhelming compared to where we wanted to be, but it’s a situation we are in and as a driver I’ve got to make the best out of this situation, not only for the team but also for myself. I’m very competitive as well so the fact that we’ve got two cars is also something that pushes me to keep being at the top of my game and to keep improving.”

Leclerc blocking out the noise

Ferrari’s poor start to the season led to speculation around Frederic Vasseur’s future as team boss.

The Frenchman signed a new deal with Ferrari, keeping him with the team for a couple more seasons.

Leclerc admitted that now he’s more experienced, he can better deal with the external pressures of being at Ferrari.

“This is what I’ve been doing since I started with the team,” Leclerc added.

“Obviously 2019 was a little bit more difficult because I was young, everything was new… and there was also a lot of hype on just me… being in red for my second year in Formula 1 was just very special.

“But since then it’s important to do a step back and to not always react on emotions and on what’s being said around.

“I think it’s very important to just stay focused and on that I think we are doing a good job - but not good enough, because we must be back winning soon.”