Ferrari to fast-track Charles Leclerc’s contract extension amidst his talks with Red Bull and Aston Martin for a possible move

With Sergio Perez’s F1 future on the line, Red Bull has allegedly initiated conversations with Charles Leclerc. As per the reports, the Red Bull management has “approached two top drivers,” including Leclerc and Lando Norris. According to the Italian tabloids, Aston Martin is also interested in taking up Leclerc as they are on the hunt for a strong driver to replace Fernando Alonso when he retires. This has posed enough reason for Ferrari to worry as their rivals are eyeing their star racer.

Currently, Red Bull has established an undisputed dominance of its own, but Sergio Perez’s poor performance has resulted in there being no second driver in the grid with the ability to challenge Max Verstappen. With the Mexican winning the Azerbaijan Grand Prix, the fans got a glimpse of what a Red Bull against another Red Bull could look like, but soon after that, Perez had a series of bad and worse performances up until now.

Managers from RBR and AMR apparently spoke with the Monegasque at the end of May to see whether he might be attracted to leave Ferrari. The conversations are thought to have accelerated talks between Ferrari CEO Frederic Vasseur and Leclerc in an attempt to thwart any move from the rivals. Leclerc claimed before the Austrian Grand Prix that he had “slowly” begun conversations with Ferrari about extending his contract. The 25-year-old Monegasque, who has also been extensively linked with Mercedes in recent months, is under contract with Ferrari until the conclusion of the 2024 season. 

Related: After taking the fight to one of the Ferraris at the British GP, George Russell claims the Monegasque did ‘questionable defending’ on his part

Charles Leclerc seems to be the hottest prospect On the grid 

Charles Leclerc is one of the hottest prospects on the grid, and after last year’s initial feud with Verstappen in the Ferrari, he is being linked to most of the top teams in the grid along with Mercedes and Red Bull himself. With his Ferrari contract expiring in 2024 season, many teams might be in secret dialogue with the Monegasque as a poach might be easy to execute from Ferrari as the team had fallen back to 4th place and is not able to deliver a competitive car to Leclerc.

Despite the reports, Charles Leclerc has maintained that he does not “have any particular deadlines” for Ferrari to give him a contract extension as he is “happy” with the Scuderia. But if a rival team swoops in with an eye-watering deal, it might be increasingly difficult for Fred Vasseur’s team to keep Charles to them anymore.

In case you missed it:

• Max Verstappen labels Brad Pitt and Lewis Hamilton’s F1 movie ‘unrealistic’
• Max Verstappen admits that he was DISAPPOINTED with himself when Lando Norris took the lead at the start of British GP

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