'I'd love to stay' - Leclerc on Ferrari 'dream' and struggles

Charles Leclerc is sixth successful the drivers' standings heading into this weekend's Italian Grand Prix

Ferrari person enactment Charles Leclerc done the mill successful the past fewer years - and astatine times vice versa, too, it has to beryllium said - but the operator immoderate successful Formula 1 judge to beryllium the fastest of each implicit 1 thigh says his committedness to a aboriginal with the Italian squad is absolute.

But helium says helium wants thing much than to enactment with the squad which has been his beingness for the past decennary and more.

"I person ever loved Ferrari and I would emotion to stay," Leclerc tells BBC Sport successful an exclusive interview. "I've ever made it precise wide that my extremity is to effort to beryllium a satellite champion, but firstly with Ferrari.

"I cognize however hard it is. We are not successful the easiest situation. There is simply a large spread to capable to get to Red Bull's level but Ferrari has helped maine earlier I got into F1, believed successful maine and enactment maine into the Ferrari spot precise aboriginal on, and it's ever a squad that I've loved.

"My precedence is to triumph with Ferrari and it is not my interest whether I won't execute it oregon whatever. We conscionable request to enactment connected the squad and effort to amended it arsenic overmuch arsenic possible, and I anticipation that I tin execute that 1 day."

Now successful his sixth play successful F1, Leclerc has established himself arsenic 1 of the precise apical drivers successful the sport, truthful it is inevitable that - with Ferrari struggling - determination volition beryllium some speculation astir his future, and genuine suitors.

For immoderate time, Leclerc has been linked with a imaginable determination to Mercedes, portion Aston Martin are believed to beryllium courting the 25-year-old.

Some person looked astatine Leclerc's concern astatine Ferrari and disquieted for him. Is his vocation astatine Maranello, they wonder, going to spell the aforesaid mode as, for example, that of Fernando Alonso - an abundantly talented operator who Ferrari failed to supply with a competitory car, starring him to yet suffer religion and leave the squad 2 years earlier the extremity of his contract.

A sanction from past resonates, excessively - Gilles Villeneuve. Leclerc shares galore of the qualities of the large Canadian. Not lone is helium incredibly fast, and susceptible of producing qualifying laps that permission onlookers gasping successful disbelief, but he's besides a disarmingly straightforward and honorable person.

But inquire whether Leclerc has immoderate concerns that his vocation could spell the aforesaid way, and helium says: "Absolutely not. Because astatine the end, being a Ferrari operator is simply a imagination for everybody."

The connection is Ferrari are arsenic committed to Leclerc arsenic helium is to them, and that down the scenes some parties are already talking arsenic if their aboriginal unneurotic volition spell good beyond 2024, and that a caller declaration is lone a substance of time.

Leclerc says: "There are immoderate jokes present and there, but nary superior talks yet."

He adds: "Honestly, I americium not successful a rush. I don't deliberation Ferrari's precedence is signing maine astatine the moment, which is understandable due to the fact that we are each conscionable focused connected trying to person the champion contention car imaginable arsenic rapidly arsenic possible.

"I recognize that. So for present we are conscionable focusing connected the season. I americium definite talks volition get astatine 1 constituent during the season, astir apt a spot aboriginal on."

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'There is simply a peculiar transportation with Ferrari'

Leclerc's emotion for Ferrari stems from their past together. The precocious Jules Bianchi, who suffered fatal injuries successful a clang during the 2014 Japanese Grand Prix, was Leclerc's godfather, and a Ferrari inferior operator who was being groomed for a aboriginal astatine Maranello.

The pursuing year, Ferrari stepped successful erstwhile Leclerc's household ran retired of wealth to money his racing vocation and joined forces with his manager Nicholas Todt to enactment him. Leclerc's consequent performances person afloat justified their faith, but it is that backing that forms the instauration for his attachment to the team.

"It's my full household and environment," helium says. "Being truthful adjacent to Jules truthful aboriginal connected and seeing him portion of the Ferrari operator academy and past helping him scope his goal, and evidently they helped maine successful 2015.

"There is conscionable a peculiar connection. I person ever been a instrumentality of this team. My dada [who died successful 2017] besides was a immense instrumentality of Ferrari and each of this makes it special.

"But adjacent isolated from each that, I person ever loved this squad and I've ever had a peculiar narration with Italy also."

The reciprocal quality of that narration volition beryllium evident astatine this weekend's Italian Grand Prix, wherever Leclerc volition bask a enactment from the celebrated tifosi that borders connected worship.

Does helium astir consciousness part-Italian?

"I could say, benignant of, yes," helium says. "I talk fluent Italian. It is the state isolated from Monaco wherever I person spent astir clip successful my life. So I person a precise adjacent relationship. I cognize the guys astatine the mill and present astatine the way since I was 15 oregon 16, which besides makes it a precise peculiar relationship."

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Leclerc is hugely fashionable with the Ferrari fans

'Just not bully capable from our side'

Despite the evident strengths of his bonds to Ferrari, each relationships are tested implicit time. And Leclerc's tenure has not precisely been the easiest play of the team's history.

At the extremity of his archetypal play - 2019 - Ferrari were revealed to person reached a confidential statement with governing assemblage the FIA, which said it believed the team's motor had not astatine each times been tally wrong the rules, adjacent if it could not beryllium it.

Ferrari ever denied that was the case. But the driblet successful motor show that followed that ruling led to the team's worst play for 40 years successful 2020.

Things began to look much affirmative done 2021, and Ferrari entered the epoch of the caller ground-effect regulations with a bang. They started 2022 with the fastest car, and Leclerc won 3 of the archetypal 4 races to look arsenic Max Verstappen's closest rubric rival.

But past the season imploded astatine singular pace. Ferrari suffered a bid of strategical errors and reliability failures that outgo Leclerc 3 imaginable victories, and successful the 2nd fractional of the play Red Bull simply moved into different cogwheel and near them behind.

After that, Ferrari entered 2023 expecting to larn from their errors, instrumentality the adjacent measurement and situation for the title, lone to find Red Bull had moved the goalposts again and they were adjacent further adrift.

The Ferrari has been respectably speedy implicit 1 thigh successful qualifying - on with Lewis Hamilton, Leclerc is the lone operator not successful a Red Bull to acceptable a rod presumption - but its handling has been vicious astatine times, and successful races it tends to autumn backwards.

Ask Leclerc however it ended up similar this and helium says Ferrari were simply not ambitious capable with what they were seeking from the caller car.

"If we look connected the method side," helium says, "whenever we enactment the car connected the way astatine the archetypal test, it was doing what we expected. So we expected it to beryllium a bully measurement forward.

"But unluckily Red Bull had done doubly the step, particularly successful the race, and that was conscionable not bully capable from our side.

"I don't deliberation we underachieved. I deliberation conscionable the targets were not the close ones."

'I struggled rather a bit'

Those targets were acceptable nether erstwhile squad main Mattia Binotto, but the Swiss did not past successful his role to spot the effects of his decisions, for helium mislaid his occupation astatine the extremity of past year.

Binotto's replacement is Frenchman Frederic Vasseur - a precise antithetic character. Binotto's inheritance is engineering. Vasseur is simply a racer, who ran palmy teams successful the inferior categories earlier moving into F1, archetypal with Renault, past Sauber for a portion earlier the large occupation astatine Ferrari.

Leclerc and Vasseur spell backmost a agelong mode - Leclerc won the GP3 rubric driving for Vasseur's ART squad successful 2016, they were astatine Sauber unneurotic successful his archetypal play successful 2018, and person remained close.

Leclerc professes implicit religion successful the changes Vasseur is instigating aimed astatine bringing Ferrari backmost to a presumption of competitiveness, but this has been a trying play for both, starting with a car that was not lone not accelerated enough, but besides incredibly hard to drive.

In the aboriginal portion of the season, it was comparatively commonplace to spot either Leclerc oregon team-mate Carlos Sainz successful the gravel oregon barriers having mislaid their conflict to support connected apical of their wayward car. Leclerc is renowned for his quality to power a escaped rear extremity - it's what helium wants from a car - but adjacent helium has struggled.

"The precise tricky thing," helium says, "is I emotion oversteer-y cars successful general, and this has been a trait passim my career. The happening with this year's car was that it wasn't an oversteer-y car, but a precise unpredictable car.

"It was affected overmuch much than our competitors with the upwind direction, and evidently going circular successful circles past you ever find yourself with a tailwind astatine immoderate constituent and that wasn't a precise comfy presumption to beryllium in. It was intolerable for the operator to anticipate.

"We inactive person this regulation successful the car today. It is overmuch amended compared to the opening of the play but it is inactive there, and evidently driving with a pointy car makes this diagnostic adjacent much hard to manage. So astatine the opening of the season, I struggled rather a bit."

Leclerc had to acceptable the car up successful a mode helium did not privation successful bid to header with its erratic behaviour, and dial successful a deficiency of beforehand grip.

"I had to woody with rather a spot of understeer conscionable to person a spot little unpredictable moments," helium says, "which is not what you want, and it is not the equilibrium I bask the most, truthful it doesn't truly acceptable my driving style.

"But we worked connected it. We had a bully reaction. We did a truly large measurement guardant connected that and present we conscionable request to adhd much show and inactive enactment connected this weakness successful bid to amended the car."

In the circumstances, it is possibly not astonishing that Leclerc has out-qualified Sainz little often than successful the past. Last year, it was astatine a ratio of astir 3 to one. This year, connected the head-to-head, Leclerc is lone narrowly ahead, adjacent if his mean gait vantage implicit the Spaniard has remained beauteous overmuch the same, astatine 0.125secs a lap.

That Ferrari and Leclerc are inactive struggling with this hard car was successful grounds astatine last weekend's Dutch Grand Prix, wherever Leclerc crashed successful qualifying - again complaining the car had not done what helium expected - past had a hard contention aft sustaining aboriginal collision damage.

With truthful galore incidents, no-one could assertion this has been his champion season, adjacent if helium insists helium is "happy" with it overall.

He says: "In a play similar this, it's hard arsenic a operator due to the fact that whenever you bash a bully race, cipher truly notices it, due to the fact that you are a spot successful the mediate of nowhere."

His highs, though, person been arsenic awesome arsenic ever. There person been beardown contention drives successful Belgium, Austria, Canada and Bahrain - the past 1 earlier helium retired with an motor nonaccomplishment successful the closing stages portion moving third.

And the highest was undoubtedly Azerbaijan, wherever helium took a car that was unpredictable and overly delicate to the upwind and enactment it connected rod connected a thoroughfare circuit successful a spot nicknamed the 'windy city', much than 0.8secs quicker than Sainz successful qualifying for the contention and astir 0.6secs up successful the sprint shoot-out.

"Baku was a truly large surprise," Leclerc says. "For immoderate reason, I felt truly comfortable, which is not thing we expected due to the fact that coming to Baku we knew our weaknesses and we knew it was a metropolis track, truthful windy, with walls astir (and that) is ne'er truly bully for confidence.

"I recovered a bully equilibrium with the car. I was besides playing rather a spot with the walls arsenic it was benignant of cutting the wind, truthful this was helping america successful the mode you were taking the corner.

"At that point, I did a truly bully thigh successful some qualifyings, which helped america bash a treble pole, which was a large astonishment for us."

'I inactive consciousness similar triumph is possible'

In the contention successful Baku, arsenic Leclerc puts it, "everything was a spot backmost to normal" and Red Bull moved ahead, though helium inactive took a beardown 3rd place.

It is simply a signifier each drivers person had to travel to presumption with this year, but it indispensable beryllium particularly frustrating for Leclerc, fixed helium was going toe-to-toe with Verstappen a small implicit a twelvemonth ago.

How does helium woody with going into a contention knowing 1 car - and peculiarly 1 rival - is fundamentally unbeatable?

"As unusual arsenic it tin sound, whenever I enactment my helmet on, I inactive consciousness similar the triumph is possible," helium says.

"Whenever I americium location grooming oregon erstwhile I americium successful the car, winning is what motivates maine and it ne'er feels unachievable. Then of people realistically earlier the play you cognize that, if thing happens to them, they are conscionable going to beryllium successful a league of their ain travel Sunday.

"But whenever I adjacent the visor, I inactive judge successful it. I inactive deliberation this is thing I tin do. A triumph is inactive imaginable and I volition ever springiness perfectly everything for the win. So determination is nary deficiency of information whatsoever."

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