Leclerc swats away suggestion he’ll replace Hamilton at Mercedes

On the day that Ferrari’s SF-23 challenger was unveiled, it was mentioned to Leclerc by Sky that he might be a contender to eventually move to Mercedes when Hamilton retires.

Leclerc is contracted to Ferrari for two more years, while Hamilton is expected to pen a new deal with Mercedes soon.

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Leclerc told Sky about extending his Ferrari deal: “No, there are no talks ongoing now, at least.

“I love the red colour. I love Ferrari. I am happy here. But we’ll see what the future holds.

“It is very early to speak about this. My contract ends [at the end of 2024].”

Leclerc was the runner-up in the F1 standings behind champion Max Verstappen of Red Bull last season, and he expects Hamilton to join them in a title battle this year.

“Lewis will never be out of the question for a championship fight,” Leclerc said.

“If he has the car, he will be there.

“We must forget what he has achieved. He still has it. We saw that plenty of times last year.

“Lewis will be there, like Red Bull will be too.”

Leclerc’s early promising form last season was eventually ruined by strategy and performance issues within Ferrari.

He said about their winter development: “The big work was done on reliability. I don’t want to express too much! But there has been a lot of work. 

“I hope we won’t have a lot of reliability issues.

“We finished second in the drivers’ and constructors’ championships, and the logical next step is to win.

“We know how difficult it will be. But we are putting a lot of work in.

“Mercedes, I am sure, will be there too. They had a very strong end to the season last year.

“It will be a difficult championship but we’ll do everything in our hands to make it work.”

Fred Vasseur has joined Ferrari as their new team principal, replacing Mattia Binotto.

“From what I’ve seen, he’s been amazing in this new position at a new team,” Leclerc said.

“It is different when you arrive at Ferrari. But he knows what we need to do well, and how to put people in the best conditions to extract the best from people.”