Charles Leclerc: Ferrari driver fuels Mercedes speculation with 'not yet' denial

1 year ago 42

Ferrari's Charles Leclerc insists helium has not held talks with Mercedes - but fuelled claims of a imaginable determination by adding "not yet" to his denial.

The 25-year-old is nether declaration to Ferrari until the extremity of 2024.

Asked whether helium had had immoderate conversations with Mercedes, helium said: "No, determination person not been immoderate conversations. Not yet. Not for the moment."

Leclerc added that helium was "fully committed to Ferrari".

He continued: "I emotion Ferrari," and said a determination was "not thing successful my mind".

Asked if Mercedes squad main Toto Wolff had called him, Leclerc replied: "No. Zero. Zero. Really zero. You each grin due to the fact that you don't judge me, but I promise."

Leclerc has for immoderate clip been said to beryllium Wolff's fig 1 enactment if Lewis Hamilton chooses to permission Mercedes.

The seven-time champion's declaration runs retired astatine the extremity of this season. Both helium and Wolff person insisted connected galore occasions that Hamilton volition enactment and a caller declaration is lone a substance of time.

Leclerc said: "For now, I americium afloat focused connected the task I americium successful today, which is Ferrari. And I afloat spot and americium assured for the future. Then we volition see, but I americium afloat assured for the task of Ferrari.

"It has ever been a imagination for maine to beryllium successful this squad and my main precedence is to triumph a satellite title with this team. So it's not thing successful my mind."

Asked astir Leclerc being linked to Mercedes, Hamilton said: "Maybe immoderate of the drivers volition talk oregon person relationships with antithetic bosses and stuff. I similar wherever I am, I emotion my squad and I deliberation I'm grateful for the travel we've been connected and what we're moving connected moving guardant so… doesn't person immoderate impact, no."

Leclerc, wide regarded arsenic 1 of the fastest drivers successful Formula 1, has had a hard commencement to the caller season, scoring lone six points successful 3 races and retiring from 2 of them.

This clip past year, helium was starring the championship, earlier Ferrari's play imploded with a bid of reliability failures and strategy errors.

Team main Mattia Binotto paid the terms for Ferrari's slump past year, and has been replaced by Frederic Vasseur, who has a adjacent narration with Leclerc having worked with him successful the inferior categories and successful the driver's debut F1 play with Sauber successful 2018.

Ferrari signed Leclerc to an unusually agelong five-year declaration aft an awesome archetypal play with the squad successful 2019, making it wide helium was their prime to pb the squad for the future.

Vasseur said connected Thursday that helium had not yet started conversations with Leclerc astir a caller contract.

"We volition bash it successful the people of the season. He's nether declaration with america for much than 1 twelvemonth [from] now, and we person clip to sermon it," helium said.

"And I'm not frightened astatine all, and I deliberation it's not the close infinitesimal to bash it."

Vasseur admitted Leclerc was "frustrated" by Ferrari's signifier but added: "I similar it. Honestly, we had the treatment and for maine the vexation is positive."

Vasseur added: "He's intelligibly portion of the project, you know? He's not a spectator of this.

"He's progressive successful the improvement of the team, he's portion of the improvement due to the fact that he's processing himself. He's a show contributor, connected way and retired of the track. And arsenic agelong arsenic helium volition play this role, we are connected a bully path.

"It's existent successful each azygous squad that you are ever gathering a squad astir the driver. If you person a look implicit the past 20 years, oregon adjacent more, each the palmy stories successful F1 took clip but it was ever a squad built up astir someone, a driver.

"It's existent with Lewis with Mercedes, but it was existent earlier with Michael [Schumacher] astatine Ferrari, it was existent with [Fernando] Alonso astatine Renault, it was existent everyplace - and Red Bull. You tin find tonnes of examples.

"For definite Charles is an important pillar of the show and helium has to play the role, successful the car, extracurricular of the car, to beryllium a show contributor.

"And helium is afloat supportive of this portion of the occupation and I'm afloat convinced that it's besides a idiosyncratic committedness from him."

While Leclerc has had a hard clip connected way this season, helium has achieved occurrence disconnected it - a soft way helium wrote and released has proved a deed this week.

F1's authoritative Instagram provender posted a clip of the opus astatine fig six connected 1 chart.

"Since the pandemic I started playing soft and it's a mode for maine to disconnect a small spot from racing," Leclerc said.

"After posting immoderate stories, I realised that galore radical really enjoyed the euphony I was doing and it didn't outgo maine overmuch to really grounds the opus and enactment it retired there.

"The effect is truly good. It's thing excessively nonrecreational but it's capable for radical to bask and that's capable for me."

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