Ferrari F1 star Charles Leclerc 'could be tempted' by sensational move to rivals

Charles Leclerc, Alexandra Saint Mleux, Ferrari, Australia, 2026 — Photo: © IMAGO

F1 News & Gossip

Charles Leclerc 'could be tempted' by sensational move to Ferrari's F1 rivals

Charles Leclerc has been a member of the Ferrari family since 2016 when he joined their driver academy

Sheona Mountford F1 Journalist

Motorsport journalist working in F1 since 2024.

Wednesday 15 April 2026 08:59

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Charles Leclerc is green, white and rosso corsa all the way through; so could a rival F1 team really tempt him away from Ferrari?

Together Leclerc and Lewis Hamilton are the picture-perfect winning combination for Ferrari. The Monegasque star in particular is at once both appealing to the younger generation of F1 fans while also evoking the image of a driver from a bygone era, thanks in part to hailing from the principality of Monaco itself.

Leclerc was lately honoured by Monaco royalty, named by Prince Albert II as an Ambassador of Goodwill and was even gifted a personalised model of a Ferrari 250 Testa Rossa, the same make used as his wedding car following his nuptials to Alexandra Saint-Mleux (now Leclerc).

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Given his beau monde lifestyle, it's impossible to envision the 28-year-old at any other team than Ferrari. After all, Leclerc dreamt of racing for Ferrari, was embedded in their driver academy in 2016 and only spent a year at Sauber before officially joining the Prancing Horse's F1 team.

But while his seven-year Ferrari career has yielded eight victories, he has failed to come close to a first world drivers' championship. And that could become a problem further down the line.

Leclerc to Red Bull?

The hottest topic on every F1 podcast, broadsheet and website (hi!) has been whether four-time champion Max Verstappen will leave Red Bull - or F1 entirely.

Such hypotheticals were recently posed on the F1 Nation podcast, where host Tom Clarkson asked his fellow pundits Jolyon Palmer and James Hinchcliffe: "If Verstappen were to leave Red Bull, who would who would be top of your shopping list, if you were Laurent Mekies?"

To this Palmer replied: "Oh, for me if money no object, probably Charles Leclerc.

"He's been at Ferrari a long time. I think he's supremely talented. I think he's shown that. If Ferrari can't show this year that they can be capable of winning the title, which they might do yet, I think he's someone that could be tempted away.

"Would he be tempted enough to go to Red Bull? We're talking real hypotheticals here, but I still think there's a title in him and I think he might be tempted."

Hinchcliffe then agreed with Palmer, although expressed his second choice to replace Max Verstappen at Red Bull would be McLaren star Oscar Piastri.

What does Leclerc think about leaving Ferrari?

Speaking to F1, Leclerc revealed exactly where his loyalties lie when it comes to Ferrari and was resolute the passion was still 100 per cent there.

"Ferrari is family and a team that I've always loved and dreamed of driving for since I was a kid, and this hasn't changed one bit since I joined the team in 2019," Leclerc said.

"So, the passion is still there. Then of course the will to win, and we want to win eventually, and I want to win."

"I hope our time will come soon because yes, it's been a long time since I started and obviously time has passed. I'm doing my best and I hope our time will come this year or as soon as possible."

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F1 Red Bull Ferrari Charles Leclerc Jolyon Palmer