Charles Leclerc, the promising young driver for the Ferrari Formula 1 team, has had a horrendous start to the 2023 season. In the three races held so far, the Monegasque faced two DNFs, leaving the Scuderia team red-faced. Leclerc also had to serve a 10-place grid penalty for surpassing the engine switch limit. While it’s still a long way to go in this season, the early signs of the brand-new SF-23 do not look promising at all.
Meanwhile, Charles Leclerc, 25, is still young and has his entire career lying ahead of him. But owing to his recent struggles with Ferrari, the Monegasque is looking out for his future. He joined the top team on the grid with a lot of hope and expectation, which clearly the Italian team failed to deliver. Hence, Leclerc seems to explore his options. But with his current contract still in place, can he legally make the switch?
Charles Leclerc Can Use This Contract Loophole To Demand An Early Exit From Ferrari
Since joining Ferrari, Charles Leclerc has performed to the best of his potential and led the drivers’ championship for nearly half of the season in 2022. However, the team’s controversial strategies and poor car performance led to his downfall. Charles signed a five-year contract with the Scuderia team in 2019 with the hope of rising through the ranks and bringing glory to the team. However, all those dreams and excitement doused quickly as Ferrari witnessed a major downfall. While Leclerc is still under the Red Devil’s contract until 2024, a loophole could open up exit doors for the Monegasque.
Red Bull racing advisor Helmut Marko recently revealed that every driver’s contract in Formula One has an exit clause. Under the clause, if a driver fails to secure a certain number of points toward the end of the season, he can demand an early exit. Moreover, Marko claimed that Sebastian Vettel used the same clause to leave Red Bull in 2015 to join Ferrari. Hence, if Charles Leclerc fails to score those set number of points, he can legally, by all means, leave the Italian team. That being said, rumors of the 25-year-old wanting to join the Mercedes have been gaining momentum for a few weeks now. Hence, it is likely that Leclerc could replace Lewis Hamilton in the Silver Arrows for the 2024 season. Regardless, these rumors are mere conjecture for now, as it’s too early to predict the driver’s swap for the upcoming F1 season.
Scuderia Team Could Lose Another Crucial Technical Staff
The Scuderia Ferrari’s woes refuse to die down and remain unlikely to end anytime soon. After a horrendous 2022 season, the team’s long-withstanding team principal Mattia Binotto offered his resignation from the post. Fred Vasseur, the former team principal of Alfa Romeo, took his place this year. However, the problems did not end, as multiple key personnel left the team after Binotto.
Now, if rumors are to be believed, Ferrari racing director Laurent Mekies could bid adieu to the Italian team to join Redbull’s sister team AlphaTauri. According to La Gazzetta dello Sport, Laurent is upset about the fact that Fred Vasseur was chosen ahead of him for the team principal’s role after Mattia’s exit. Hence, he now wants to try his shot at AlphaTauri.
