Charles Leclerc speaks out about Ferrari future ahead of Italian Grand Prix

Leclerc has a contract until the end of the 2024 season with Ferrari but has been linked to Mercedes this year

Charles Leclerc insists he would “love to stay” at Ferrari for the foreseeable future but insists extending his contract beyond 2024 is not a “priority” at the moment.

Leclerc joined Ferrari in 2019 from Alfa Romeo and made an immediate impression on the tifosi fanbase, winning their home Italian Grand Prix at Monza as well as the Belgian Grand Prix in Spa.

After a few forlorn years, 2022 saw the Scuderia challenge at the top again – with Leclerc winning two of the first three races – before Red Bull stole a march and cruised to championship glory as Ferrari saw their tilt fade away due to reliability and strategic errors.

This season has seen Ferrari, if anything, take a step backwards and as a result Leclerc has been linked with a move to Mercedes – even in a potentially astonishing swap deal with Lewis Hamilton – but the Monegasque driver was keen to emphasise his heart remains with Ferrari.

“I have always loved Ferrari and I would love to stay,” he told the BBC.

"I’ve always made it very clear that my goal is to try to be a world champion, but firstly with Ferrari. I know how difficult it is. We are not in the easiest situation. There is a big gap to fill to get to Red Bull’s level but Ferrari has helped me before I got into F1, believed in me and put me into the Ferrari seat very early on, and it’s always a team that I’ve loved.

"My priority is to win with Ferrari and it is not my worry whether I won’t achieve it or whatever. We just need to work on the team and try to improve it as much as possible, and I hope that I can achieve that one day."

Charles Leclerc insists he would ‘love to stay’ at Ferrari for the foreseeable future (Getty Images)

Leclerc has a contract with Ferrari until the end of the 2024 season but insists a long-term extension is not in his or the team’s thinking right now.

"Honestly, I am not in a rush,” he said. “I don’t think Ferrari’s priority is signing me at the moment, which is understandable because we are all just focused on trying to have the best race car possible as quickly as possible.”

Leclerc has not won a race since last July in Austria, with his best finish this year two third-place podiums in Azerbaijan and Belgium.

The 25-year-old is sixth in the driver standings on 99 points, a mammoth of 240 points behind runaway championship leader Max Verstappen.

“We expected a good step forward [this year],” he added. "But unfortunately Red Bull had done twice the step, especially in the race, and that was just not good enough from our side. I don’t think we underachieved. I think just the targets were not the right ones."

Leclerc and his team-mate Carlos Sainz will be eyeing a strong showing at Ferrari’s home race, the Italian Grand Prix, at Monza this weekend.