Charles Leclerc says his aim is to dethrone Max Verstappen and Red Bull at the top of F1 next season from Ferrari – before Lewis Hamilton joins the Scuderia.
Leclerc claimed his ‘sole aim’ was to dethrone Red Bull and praised the work of Ferrari’s development team ahead of next week’s car launch.
Red Bull is in turmoil as team boss Christian Horner is under investigation following allegations of ‘incredibly controlling behaviour’, leaving his future up in the air.
The 26-year-old Leclerc, speaking for the first time since the announcement that Lewis Hamilton will replace Carlos Sainz in 2025, posted a cautiously optimistic figure.
“Winning the championship is the only goal I have. “I’m only happy when I win, second place is not my goal,” he said.
Charles Leclerc claimed his ‘only goal’ was to win a championship with Ferrari – and second place isn’t enough
Leclerc spoke for the first time since it was announced that Lewis Hamilton would join Ferrari in 2025
‘You also have to set realistic goals for yourself, even though we are always optimistic and try to do the best job possible.
‘We all want to win, but looking at where we started last year, Red Bull had a big lead. So now we have to close the gap as much as possible.
“So we will do absolutely everything we can to try and take the step that, that is our goal, to challenge.”
Ferrari collected less than half of Red Bull’s points total last season and finished third in the constructors’ standings, while Leclerc finished fifth in the drivers’ championship.
Lerclerc and Sainz have been teammates for three seasons and despite moments of competitive friction, they have had a fruitful relationship.
Those campaigns have seen the Prancing Horse return to the upper reaches of the grid after a diabolical 2020 season that saw Ferrari finish sixth before Sainz arrived.
Lerclerc said: ‘We have a very special relationship. I mean, we’re obviously friends off the court too. We share good moments. We spend so much time. I mean, I see Carlos more than my own family because we have 24 races now.”
Ferrari will unveil their next car on February 13 in the hope of ending Red Bull’s dominance.
Hamilton will replace Carlos Sainz, Leclerc’s ‘friend’ and ‘special teammate’ of three years
Ferrari hopes to close the gap with Red Bull, which has been rocked by accusations against Tam director Christian Horner
Leclerc added: ‘I’m just super excited because there’s so much work going on at the moment.
‘As I said, we started developing the new car months ago, first virtually on the simulator in Maranello, then we will see the first part of physical parts.
‘I saw the car yesterday, not yet fully painted, but the first model.
‘So that’s where you start to get excited and then we get to drive the car for the first time around the launch, which will be next week, which again I’m really looking forward to.
‘There are many question marks. Of course we drove the car, but then it remains to be seen in reality whether everything matches what we felt in the virtual world and the simulator, which normally happens when everything goes well.
‘As of now I’m really excited to be back next week and try more with the car.
“I mean, with the technology that we’re getting now, it’s absolutely crazy how close it gets (the simulator), but there may be some false correlations that over the years we’re always trying to push the boundaries and get as close to the reality is possible, but they have done a great job, so I’m sure it will be very similar to what I tried on the simulator.’
Ferrari will hope to steal any advantage over Red Bull, which has been shocked by the allegations surrounding Horner.
Horner, pictured with Red Bull’s Formula 1 champion Max Verstappen, strongly denies claims of ‘incredibly controlling’ and ‘inappropriate’ behavior
The father-of-two and husband of singer Geri Halliwell flatly denied the allegations and is expected to remain in the job he has held since 2005 until an internal investigation is completed.
It is understood a decision on his future will be made before February 15, with a hearing on Friday, as he faces allegations of ‘inappropriate behaviour’, allegedly towards a female colleague.
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