F1 Grand Prix of France - Previews
Charles Leclerc is reportedly close to signing another long-term contract with Ferrari if the Italian publications are to be believed. The driver has been affiliated with the Italian team since 2016 when he was signed as a junior driver. Since then, in some shape or form, he has been a part of the Ferrari family.
After he won the F2 title in 2017, Leclerc graduated to F1 in 2018 as a Ferrari junior and raced for Sauber. After an impressive rookie season, the Monégasque got immediate promotion to the senior team in 2019 and he has been a part of the setup ever since.
2023 completed his five years with Ferrari and looking back he’s had muted success compared to his contemporary and childhood rival Max Verstappen. While the Red Bull driver has already won three titles and is looking at a tally of more than 50 wins, Leclerc has only seven wins to his name and while he did finish second in the championship in 2022, it wasn’t much of a title battle.
During his five years with the Italian team, not even once has Leclerc had a car capable of fighting for the title consistently. This is precisely why if the reports are true that he’s signing a five-year contract with the team, the decision does come as a surprise.
And this is precisely why there is a sense that Charles Leclerc is making the same career mistake that Sebastian Vettel did at Ferrari.
What mistake did Sebastian Vettel make?
Sebastian Vettel’s idol in F1 was Michael Schumacher. The young German had grown up watching the Ferrari legend dominate the sport. Just like everybody else at the time, even Vettel was enamored by the prospects and hopes of winning a title with the Italian giant.
The image of Schumacher greeting the Tifossi after winning the race in Monza is a vivid image from the years of his dominance and that was what drivers of Vettel’s era vied for. Vettel was the blue-eyed kid who joined Ferrari in 2015 intending to emulate what his idol did.
What went wrong for Vettel was that there was too much romanticism attached to him joining Ferrari. When Schumacher joined Ferrari, he transformed the team from its original Italian roots to a more efficient and somewhat British operation (with Ross Brawn heading the affairs).
Vettel could not do that and quite early in his stint, he realized that he didn’t have the freedom or the authority to put this into place. Realizing he was part of a sinking ship, ideally, the German driver should have called it quits and maybe even tried to pursue a different route.
He was approached by Niki Lauda for a seat at Mercedes alongside Lewis Hamilton but he declined and plowed on at Ferrari. In the end, all his efforts went down the drain and the somewhat cannibalistic nature of the team where steps are taken that go against the outfit started to eat into his performance levels.
By the time Vettel left Ferrari, he was a shell of himself and it took some time for him to regain his form at Aston Martin.
How Charles Leclerc is making the same mistake?
Charles Leclerc seems to be doing something similar where he’s trying to dedicate his entire career to Ferrari. He will be 31 years of age by the time his rumored new five-year contract comes to an end. One has to question the logic behind him looking to sign such an extended contract even though there has been no evidence from the team that it is ready to fight for the title.
Ferrari has not won an F1 title since 2008 (the constructors championship). The last legitimate title battle was more than a decade ago in 2012 when Fernando Alonso was part of the team. Even in 2023, Leclerc has not only looked disappointed but sad and frustrated as well. The driver has not been happy with the operationally poor team and that has been quite visible.
While many would argue that under Fred Vasseur Ferrari has shown signs of improvement it does not discount the fact that the team continues to show these signs before a massive implosion. This happened in 2013 when Stefano Domenicali was shown the door, then it happened with Maurizio Arrivabene in 2018 and recently it happened with Mattia Binotto in 2022.
There’s nothing that has been shown to Leclerc to definitively convince him to sign a five-year extension. At the end of it, this comes down to the romanticism of winning with Ferrari. That’s a lure that not many drivers on the F1 grid can deny.
This is a lure that seems to driving Leclerc right now and if that is the case. then he’s making the same mistake that Vettel did in his career.
What should Charles Leclerc do?
Arguably one of the more pertinent questions that would be asked here is what should Charles Leclerc do if not sign for Ferrari? There aren’t many options available at the moment. Red Bull is booked with Max Verstappen. Mercedes has Lewis Hamilton and George Russell.
McLaren has Lando Norris and Oscar Piastri while Aston Martin has Fernando Alonso. Well, the first Leclerc needs to do is not sign such a long-term contract. Signing a five-year contract is taking him off the market for far too long and he has no flexibility.
What he needs to do is wait until the 2024 mid-season to see the growth trajectory that Ferrari could have. By this time, there could be a possibility that a seat might open up. F1’s driver market can be fluid and this could certainly happen. On the other hand, he would also be able to ascertain that he should commit to the Italian team for a longer duration.
What Leclerc needs to do at this stage is keep the romanticism of being a Ferrari world champion to one side and focus entirely on the route that gives him the most success. To do that, he needs to wait.
In conclusion, as a Charles Leclerc fan, one can just hope that the Ferrari driver is not lured by the glitter of being the first champion for Scuderia since 2007 because if he is, he’s making the same mistake that his predecessor did.
