With Ferrari Struggling to Extend Charles Leclerc’s $24,000,000 Services, Red Bull Is Actually Talking To Monegasque; Reveals F1 Journo

Charles Leclerc has a five-year contract with Ferrari, that pays him $24,000,000 per year, expiring at the end of the 2024 season. There have been reports of Ferrari slowly trying to start talks about extending his contract post-2024, it has also been reported that the Monegasque is having talks with Red Bull for a possible move. Amidst all of this ESPN F1 journalist Laurence Edmondson believes Leclerc talking to Red Bull shouldn’t come as a huge surprise.

This year, Red Bull has managed to make one of the most dominant cars seen in recent history. In 2022, they won 17 out of the 22 races with the RB18, but this year, the RB19 has helped them win all 10 races so far. Therefore, any top driver would absolutely relish the thought of driving for Red Bull, where wins and podium finishes are a guarantee.

🚨 | Red Bull held talks with Charles Leclerc in the end of May to find any possibility of him separating with Ferrari

Edit Via @TwommoF1 pic.twitter.com/VUNWcSqSx6

— RBR Daily (@RBR_Daily) July 12, 2023

As for Leclerc, the Monegasque already put up a strong challenge to Max Verstappen at the start of the 2022 season when Ferrari was on par with the Milton-Keynes-based outfit. Therefore, many people believe that if given equal cars, Leclerc has the capability of performing at the level of Verstappen.

Charles Leclerc should absolutely keep in touch with Red Bull

In the ESPN podcast Unlapped, Lawrence Edmondson provided listeners with an insight into the current situation of the F1 driver market. While talking about Leclerc’s rumored connection with Red Bull, Edmondson explained that it is highly common for a driver to be in contact with all his rival teams and try to understand if there are any better opportunities for him.

Edmondson said, “If any of these drivers, if you’re contract is up in 2025 and there are opportunities at other teams. If your manager is not talking to the other teams to at least find out what the possibilities are, then sack your manager.”

🚨 | Red Bull has approached both Charles Leclerc and Lando Norris in the last few weeks.

The goal is to have a second top driver in the team.

There were talks with the Monegasque, to understand if there was any possibility that the paths with Ferrari could separate.#F1 pic.twitter.com/NaG2JMy3Xh

— Fastest Pitstop (@FastestPitStop) July 12, 2023

He explained that it is a very common occurrence in F1 for the drivers to keep having these conversations with various teams, to figure out what opportunities are available. Most of the time these discussions don’t materialize into anything but are carried forward, just to get a grasp of the situation.

This depends mostly on what the driver feels is better for him. Therefore, if Leclerc is truly invested in Ferrari’s F1 project, then it will be extremely difficult for Red Bull to lure him away.

Ferrari have failed to deliver on their promise

By signing Charles Leclerc in 2019 and then bringing in Carlos Sainz in 2021, Ferrari embarked on a major comeback mission to try and get the fabled name back to the top of F1. However, as things stand, they have failed to do so.

The Maranello-based outfit did rock up to the grid in 2022 with a competitive car. However, a mix of driver errors and poor strategy choices took them out of the title picture. In terms of development too, they started falling miles behind Red Bull as the season progressed.

Ferrari has not been able to provide Leclerc with anything that a young star like him would want. Leclerc has spoken more than once about his desire to fight for the championship, but unfortunately does not have the car to do. Therefore, it won’t be a surprise if the Monegasque decides to explore his options with Red Bull.