PARIS.- The Monegasque Charles Leclerc5th in the Formula 1 World Championship in 2023, extended his contract with Ferrari “beyond the 2024 season,” the Italian team announced this Thursday, without giving further details.
“I am very happy to know that I will wear the colors of Scuderia Ferrari for several more seasons,” reacted Leclerc, whose contract expired at the end of the campaign.
After making his debut in 2018 with Sauber, Leclerc, 26, signed for the Scuderia a year later. Author of 23 pole positions, he has been on the podium 30 times since his debut with Ferrari and has five Grand Prix victories, finishing runner-up in the drivers’ world championship behind the Dutchman Max Verstappen in 2022.
“This team is my second family since I joined the Ferrari Driver Academy in 2016 and we have achieved many things together fighting against all odds over the last five years,” continued the Monegasque, quoted in the statement.
Last year, Leclerc stated in an interview with AFP that he wanted to become world champion with the legendary Prancing Horse team, which finished third in the constructors’ world championship this year, far behind Red Bull.
Ferrari is Ferrari:
“The situation is not what I would like to have found myself in today, but that will not make me forget the fact that it is the team of my dreams and that my ultimate goal is to be world champion with Ferrari,” he said in September.
The next F1 season begins on March 2 in Bahrain after three days of testing (February 21-23).
Until then, the Scuderia will show its car for 2024 on February 13, which will be driven by Leclerc and the Spanish Carlos Sainz Jr., with a contract until the end of the 2024 season.
At the moment no announcement has been made about a possible renewal of Sainz’s contract.
Source: AFP
