Charles Leclerc said Ferrari are not satisfied with how the team are fairing, and reaffirmed his commitment following rumours he was looking to leave the Scuderia.
Rumours circulated after the Spanish Grand Prix two weeks ago that Fred Vasseur’s position was under threat as Ferrari team principal, and Leclerc was looking to exit the team.
However, ahead of the Canadian Grand Prix on Thursday, a Ferrari spokesperson told ESPN the rumours were “Not even worth commenting [on].”
Leclerc, who joined the team in 2019, told reporters, the team are “unsatisfied” but he was surprised about the rumours.
“I mean, I have no idea from where it’s coming from,” the Monegasque said. “I’ll rather just ignore it. But I’ve never said anything of this in the last few races. If anything, I keep saying how much I love the team and how much I want to bring back Ferrari to the top.”
Ferrari have had a difficult start to the year, with Leclerc scoring all three of the team’s podiums in 10 races, despite the preseason hype of seven-time champion Lewis Hamilton joining the team.
The team suffered an additional blow on Friday as Leclerc crashed out of first practice at the Canadian Grand Prix after spinning off at the second chicane. The team confirmed afterwards the damage would not be fixed in time for second practice.
“I think none of us is satisfied with how it’s going at the moment. That’s clear,” Leclerc said during Thursday’s media day. “We came into the season thinking that we had chances to challenge McLaren and Red Bull in order to win the championship.
“That has not been the case so far. However, it’s fair also to say that I don’t think many people understood, apart from McLaren. They’ve done a huge step forward compared to last year, a lot more than anybody else.”
He added: “If we compare ourselves to our other competitors apart from McLaren, it’s not like we are having a shocking season. We are second in the constructors. As a matter of fact, this is not good enough.
“We are not happy with that and we need to understand what McLaren found. We also need to be careful about everything that is going on around the team because sometimes that can change the perception of someone’s season. I think McLaren is doing an outstanding job.”
Ferrari are 197 points behind McLaren in the constructors’ championship, with Leclerc fifth in the drivers’ championship heading into Montreal.
Source: espn.com