Leclerc to leave Sauber and join Haas in 2019

Leclerc to leave Sauber and join Haas in 2019, according to reports in Sky Italy.

Charles Leclerc’s F1 future is one that a lot of people are interested in, as the young driver has highly impressed in his debut season for Sauber, almost securing a move to Ferrari.

His development has been on the rise all through this season, and the skill level is certainly there to be able to drive and thrive with F1’s elite.

Now, according to reports in Sky Italy, Leclerc has secured a move for Haas, and he’ll be moving there in 2019.

He’ll be partnering Magnussen. Ericsson will be staying put and will be joined by Antonio Giovinazzi.

This essentially ends Leclerc’s bid to land that Ferrari seat by 2019 itself. And it also means that Kimi Raikkonen will be extending his contract with Ferrari for at least one more year.

The new Ferrari management will kick in from Monza, with President John Elkhan and CEO Louis Camilleri  presenting themselves. But will a driver announcement follow is something that will need to be seen.

Raikkonen has performed decently well this season and infact had more podiums than Vettel until the last grand prix in Belgium, wherein he was forced to retire because of that massive Hulkeberg triggered crash on lap 1.

But does the Leclerc to Haas shift actually make sense?

Sauber have invested heavily in development and would suffer a setback if the highly talented and efficient Leclerc leaves.

Also, with respect to just Leclerc’s career, will he see a significant jump in performance with Haas and will it massively help him in his quest to land that Ferrari seat?

Some questions that still need to be answered about this move, but it sure will have massive implication for the driver market.

This then surely rules out a Perez to Haas move, doesn’t it?

Also, this would have massive implications for Grosjean, who has largely struggled this season, but would have been hopeful of a Haas seat(or maybe any seat right now) next season.