“Restless” Charles Leclerc seeks out a meeting with Ferrari President – Report

A "restless" Charles Leclerc reportedly held a meeting with Ferrari President, John Elkann, to discuss the current situation at the team.

“Restless” Charles Leclerc seeks out a meeting with Ferrari President – Report

Charles Leclerc

All is not well at Ferrari. At the end of last season, longtime employee Mattia Binotto resigned as team principal. Reliability, strategy, and executions on race weekend had been their Achilles’ heel(s), and the Italian took the brunt of the blame. Frederic Vasseur was brought in as his replacement. This works out two ways, as there were also rumors that Charles Leclerc had a ‘disturbed’ relationship with Binotto.

In contrast, Vasseur and Leclerc share a good relationship and have worked together on two previous occasions. Despite the Frenchman’s arrival, things haven’t improved drastically at Ferrari. But it’s early days. Right now, the mood is rather tense. Far from the title challenger Tifosi and Ferrari would have hoped the SF-23 would be, in Bahrain, it looked like the third-best car. The tire degradation continued to be an issue for them, as well as the reliability.

https://youtu.be/0lAI_-QpbUA

Leclerc retired in Bahrain, with a suspected engine issue – there are a variety of possible explanations for that. This definitely cannot happen again if he and Ferrari hope to challenge for the title. But even the race pace was disappointing – they were pretty much a second behind Red Bull. So, in such a situation, as per La Gazzetta dello Sport, the Monegasque sought out a meeting with Ferrari’s President, John Elkann.

FS Video

As per the Italian newspaper, the prospect of not competing for the title in 2023 is “unacceptable” for Leclerc. As for the aim of the meeting itself, the Monegasque “probably” wanted to share his view with Elkann, and receive reassurances. He has consistently been linked to Mercedes, but at least recently, he had asserted his commitment to the Italian team.

Read More: Ferrari test driver reveals likely cause of Charles Leclerc’s Bahrain GP retirement

Charles Leclerc beginning to feel that “time is running out” to win with Ferrari

Charles Leclerc
Charles Leclerc

Charles Leclerc’s current contract expires at the end of the 2024 season. Back in 2022, when asked about the rumors by L’Equipe, he had not completely ruled out a move to Mercedes. This must have sent alarm bells ringing at Ferrari. But at least right now, according to the report, he wants to with Ferrari, the team he loves and came up with through the Driver Academy. But after four fairly ‘fruitless’ seasons, he is beginning to feel that “time is running out”.

Apart from Leclerc, there are other things to worry about at Ferrari. The atmosphere is rather tense right now in Maranello. Recently, David Sanchez, their head of vehicle concept, resigned. He had apparently already ‘circulated’ his resume among other teams in the paddock. It looks like he will move to McLaren, where he previously worked between 2007 and 2012.

There are other changes too: Inaki Rueda has been sent back to the factory, and the new chief strategist is Ravin Jain. Gino Rosato and Jonathan Giacobazzi have both left (the Formula 1 team) as well. Obviously, to improve the mood in Maranello: the sporting situation has to improve. Ferrari have not won the Drivers’ title since 2007 and the Constructors’ title since 2008. This needs to change as soon as possible.

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