“This team has always been my dream”: Charles Leclerc responds to Toto Wolff’s invite to join Mercedes in 2024

Charles Leclerc has been a lifelong Ferrari fan. Getting inspired by Jules Bianchi, who also rose from the Ferrari drivers’ academy and went on to compete in F1. Leclerc worked hard and cracked into the same academy.

Bianchi failed to compete for Ferrari due to his untimely death after a fatal crash in Suzuka. With his incredible performances throughout every feeder series, Leclerc joined Ferrari in 2019. The Monegasque became the first driver from their academy to represent the Tifosis.

So his association with Ferrari, unlike other drivers, is beyond the metrics of millions of dollars. He had a journey with the Maranello-based team and looks dedicated to them.

Also read: 8 GP winner Daniel Ricciardo won’t travel to every single race with Red Bull in 2023

Charles Leclerc responds to Mercedes’ invite

In 2019, the Monegasque signed a five-year-long contract with Ferrari. The longest agreement the Italian team signed with any driver. Not even Michael Schumacher was ever offered such a long contract with them. Therefore, it showed how much potential Ferrari saw in Leclerc.

But after the following season, the contract between the two will run out. Mercedes boss Toto Wolff has offered Leclerc to join them in 2024. While Ferrari would want the 25-year-old to continue, for the 25-year-old, Ferrari is a dream team and would only refuse Mercedes.

“2024 is a long time away and there is still a little time left at Ferrari. This team has always been my dream,” said surprised Leclerc upon knowing Wolff would welcome him at Mercedes in 2024 if the Monegasque is free.

Charles: “My objective at the moment is to win with Ferrari and then we’ll see. I am very happy at Ferrari and I want to win with them.”#LÉquipe

— tami. (@Vetteleclerc) November 22, 2022

Ferrari settles for P2 with Charles Leclerc

The Maranello-based team entered the 2022 season as one of the favourites for the title, as they won two of the first three races of the season. However, Red Bull soon managed to catch up to them, and by the last phase of the season, Max Verstappen comfortably won the title.

On the other hand, Leclerc, aiming for the title before the summer break, was soon caught defending his runner-up spot in the standings against Sergio Perez.

In Abu Dhabi, by a narrow margin, Leclerc held onto his runner-up spot and only by that far did Ferrari finish their season. Leclerc’s final remarks of the season were, “tonight we party. From tomorrow we will work hard.” The title ambitions of 2023 are now heating up for Leclerc.

Also read: How Ferrari tricked Red Bull into mistake and sealed P2 with Charles Leclerc?

About the author

Tanish Chachra

Tanish Chachra is the Motorsport editor at The SportsRush. He saw his first race when F1 visited India in 2011, and since then, his romance with the sport has been seasonal until he took up this role in 2020. Reigniting F1's coverage on this site, Tanish has fallen in love with the sport all over again. He loves Kimi Raikkonen and sees a future world champion in Oscar Piastri. Away from us, he loves to snuggle inside his books.

Read More