Leclerc rubbishes Ferrari F1 exit rumours: “I love the team”

Charles Leclerc poured scorn on recent rumours in Italian media stating that the Ferrari driver saw his long-term Formula 1 future elsewhere, revealing his surprise over the speculation.

The Monegasque admitted that the team was not particularly satisfied with its start to 2025, with the team hoping to pick up on its form from the end of 2024 with the goal of challenging for titles — instead, the team has managed just three grand prix podiums this year.

Ferrari has managed to chalk up a sprint race win so far in 2025, courtesy of Lewis Hamilton’s victory in China, but generally has found mixed form through the rest of the year; qualifying performances have been so-so, as its race pace has generally been stronger.

This has not only led to speculation about the future of team principal Fred Vasseur, but also that Leclerc may consider looking elsewhere with a cited exit clause in his contract.

Nonetheless, Leclerc explained that he has never wavered in his support for the Ferrari team, and wants to remain a part of the plans to bring the Prancing Horse back to the top of F1.

“I’m very surprised. I have no idea from where it’s coming from,” Leclerc stated. “So, I’ll rather just ignore it. 

“But I’ve never said anything of this in the last few races. If anything, I keep saying how much I love the team and how much I want to bring back Ferrari to the top. I was just surprised.

“We have a vision that we share, us three – Fred, Lewis and myself – in order to try and get back to winning. And we’ve been working to put that all together. And so, yeah, this is our plan. I think we should stick to it.”

Leclerc elaborated on his disappointment with Ferrari’s current results and lack of a title challenge, although stated that part of this was due to McLaren having started 2025 in better form than the other outfits on the grid. Regardless, Leclerc added that Ferrari needed to “find ourselves” in order to renew a challenge for race wins.

Leclerc then stated ignoring external pressure on the team was normal, and that the internal drive to perform remained focused on achieving more regular race wins – and in finding “the outstanding thing” that McLaren has been able to unearth so far in 2025.

“I think none of us are satisfied of how it’s going at the moment. That’s clear. We came into the season thinking that we had chances to challenge McLaren and Red Bull in order to win the championship,” he said.

“That has not been the case so far. However, it’s fair also to say that I don’t think many people understood, apart from McLaren… they’ve done a huge step forward compared to last year. A lot more than anybody else.

Charles Leclerc, Ferrari, Lando Norris, McLaren, Oscar Piastri, McLaren

Photo by: Andy Hone / Motorsport Images

“I think McLaren is doing an outstanding job. We are absolutely not happy in the situation we are in at the moment. However, I feel like we just need to find ourselves as well, just like Mercedes, just like Red Bull. 

“We need to find the outstanding thing that McLaren has found.

“We are already putting ourselves under a lot of pressure. Then, of course, there are some talks that it’s not something that you want to hear. But the pressure is normal to have it.

“When you are working for Ferrari, second is never good enough. But we are all aware of it. So it’s not like the outside pressure is having any influence on the pressure that we put ourselves first. We want to be winning. And as I keep saying, it’s not good enough. 

“But I’m not the only one to say that. All the team knows that it’s not good enough and that Ferrari should be winning. And that’s what we are putting all our efforts into, is to try and bring Ferrari back to the top.”