Charles Leclerc addresses rumours he could join Mercedes in 2024: “I’m very happy at Ferrari”

22/11/2022 11:30

Charles Leclerc was interviewed by French nationwide daily newspaper L’Équipe as the Monegasque driver addressed the rumours he could join Mercedes in 2024, was asked about Mattia Binotto possibly being replaced next season and shared his thoughts on Scuderia Ferrari’s 2022 Formula 1 season after the previous difficult years.

Here is the full interview of Charles Leclerc for L’Équipe:

What will you learn from the little notebook you’ve been writing in all year? Charles Leclerc: “There are three things we really need to focus on to be better next year. One is reliability, which I think was a problem at the beginning of the year. Secondly, tyre management. That’s what I’ve been working on a lot. And finally, and this is really a point on which we have to concentrate to be better, it’s communication and race strategy, which are linked points for me. We have to make progress here too.”

Even if it is just a simple change. Do you have to change something around you? Charles Leclerc: “I think we have to change the way we make decisions. To be better on Sunday, that’s what you have to change.

But to change and change the way decisions are being made, you have to change the people. Charles Leclerc: “No, not necessarily. It’s also the way you come to conclusions, it’s the way the communication between the different engineers in the team works so that it’s clearer. It is the way you have to focus on the important things and not on the details that then make you lose.”

You give the impression of being a “model student”, the one who never questions the decisions taken by the team. Sainz knows how to say no [Silverstone]. Couldn’t you sometimes be more demanding? Charles Leclerc: “I clearly think that there is a very bad interpretation. As a driver, if we want to win the championship one day, it’s not by making decisions in the car, by having 5% of the information that the strategists have, that I’ll be able to do it, but by getting the information from the wall. That’s how we’ll win. The best approach is that we all get on the same page with the team and then make decisions together. But they have to be the right ones.”

If Ferrari changed direction and Fred Vasseur came, would you be happy? Charles Leclerc: “So far, it’s just rumors. In Formula 1, there are always some and at Ferrari, even more… I learned not to think too much about these rumours. I focus on what I have to do on the track. And don’t comment on rumours. Especially right now.”

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Sebastian Vettel told us that after his years at Ferrari he would like to change certain things but he kept his ideas to himself. Would you change anything in the team? Charles Leclerc: “There always needs to be a change in an Formula 1 team, e.g. in the sense or in the way decisions are made. We showed in some races that we didn’t reach the right conclusions, that we took too long to make decisions or that we didn’t manage to make the right one. And on these things, we have to improve. So yes, we need to change that, the way, the process to arrive at the right decision.”

At Red Bull, Max is adored, at Mercedes, Lewis is respected. Would you like Ferrari to “pamper” you too? Charles Leclerc: “Personally, it’s not something I can control, so I prefer to focus on what I can control and that’s my driving.”

You might ask… Charles Leclerc: “These are things that I will do internally if I feel the need.”

And you don’t feel the need? Charles Leclerc: “My job is to do the best job possible. And then, the team will push in my direction.”

You don’t want to answer the question. Charles Leclerc (laughs): “That’s my answer.”

And you couldn’t jump from the top of the dyke [Interviewer means jumping in the sea from the harbour, which Charles said he would do if he had won in Monaco]? Charles Leclerc: “I could have but it would have been for the wrong reasons (laughs).”

But in Silverstone, is it the most difficult pain of the season, because you were leading and the pit wall decision deprived you of the win? Charles Leclerc: “It was really not easy but Monaco, for me, will remain the most painful moment. Another home Grand Prix that didn’t go well. Unfortunately, something always happens to me in Monaco and this year was no exception. Especially because we had managed to do the hardest part well, the start in the rain, but by making the wrong choices, we unfortunately lost the victory.”

What was more difficult for you: your mistakes at Imola and Paul Ricard or the strategic decision at Silverstone? Charles Leclerc: “It’s not an easy question to answer because both have been difficult to live with.. Once again, I didn’t lose many points. But for France, obviously it’s harder: I lost 25 points and that wasn’t good. Especially at that point in the season. We were still a little bit in the race for the championship and that hurt. The other mistakes, the ones you can’t necessarily control, are not easy to live with.”

Have you had problems with motivation in the last few races? Charles Leclerc: “No, I still have it [motivation]. I wanted us to try to improve in all these areas. Afterwards, it’s true that sometimes, especially in the heat of the moment, when it doesn’t work, emotions come out. It can be frustration or irritation. But in the end, I used all these emotions as fuel for my motivation, by going back to Maranello and trying to work even harder to try to understand these mistakes and not to repeat them.”

How do you feel about the end of the season? Charles Leclerc: “Emotionally, there have been a lot of ups and downs. Our start to the season was almost perfect. In any case the first three or four races were very, very good. Then, unfortunately, the middle of the season was very complicated with a lot of engine problems, engine penalties and strategy problems, so we never managed to get the car to perform. And at the end of the season we found ourselves a little bit below Red Bull or Mercedes. But we are trying to maximise each result and above all to improve for next year.”

So winning three races this year, did that reassure you? Charles Leclerc: “I wasn’t worried. I knew that if I had a good car, I could fight for wins again. It was more of a surprise that it was already happening this year, knowing how complicated it had been before.”

What will you remember from 2022? The 9 poles? The 3 wins? To have led the championship? Charles Leclerc: “What made me most happy, in general, is that we have become competitive again and that we are finally fighting for victories. Or at least being at the front. Because it’s true that the previous two years were super frustrating. We were fighting for positions that weren’t really exciting. So it’s really nice to be back in the battle for the top spots.”

2020 and 2021, was it difficult for you? Charles Leclerc: “Yes, it was complicated. Especially after my first year at Ferrari where everything was going really well, we were fighting for victories. In 2019, I won my first two GPs, so I had a first taste of what it was like to fight for the top positions and then to really take a step back, it was difficult for me.”

Toto Wolff has said that if you were free at the end of 2024, he would be delighted to welcome you at Mercedes. Would you agree to go? Charles Leclerc (surprised): “2024 is a long time away, there is still a lot of time left with Ferrari. This team has always been my dream. My objective at the moment is to win with Ferrari and then we’ll see. I am very happy at Ferrari and I want to win with them.”

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