Charles Leclerc and Ferrari are at the crossroads: The F1 prince needs to become king

Charles Leclerc

Charles Leclerc and Ferrari are at the crossroads: The F1 prince needs to become king

Charles Leclerc has been at Ferrari since 2019 - should he move on?

Dan Ripley Global Editor

Professional F1 journalist and analyst

Thursday 16 April 2026 09:30

Since Lewis Hamilton's grip on Formula 1 domination loosened in 2021, F1 has become the Max Verstappen show.

That's not a criticism by the way. Verstappen has been blockbuster in a number of ways and most importantly it's because he is a remarkable racing driver.

Now, it's not going brilliantly for the four-time world champion this year, with his Red Bull car not up to the task to the point he is even flirting with quitting the sport.

That's prompted a bit of speculation of who would be the sport's top star should he leave.

Back to 'old man' Hamilton, even 'older man' Fernando Alonso? Current world champion Lando Norris, whose aura as world champion is practically non-existent. How about Mercedes duo George Russell and Kimi Antonelli who are battling for the title and are prime candidates for the future?

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F1's forgotten star

Better yet, how about the star driver who criminally gets forgotten about far too often in one Charles Leclerc.

Leclerc's had a curious F1 career. Breaking on the scene in 2018, he has always been marked out as a future star and his early performances brought him to Ferrari in 2019. In his first season at the team, he held off a charging Lewis Hamilton to win Ferrari's first Italian Grand Prix in nine years. A star was born.

Leclerc's reputation hasn't really diminished since either. He sent four-time world champion Sebastian Vettel packing from the team after outperforming him and has been the better driver against his following Ferrari team-mates Carlos Sainz and Hamilton himself.

His issue is visibility. Ferrari haven't been in a drivers' title fight during his time at the team, aside from the first half of 2022 when he and Verstappen put up memorable close racing duels. That fizzled out after Ferrari's development programme took another infamous wrong turn mid-season.

Charles Leclerc is in the shadow of Ferrari team-mate Lewis Hamilton

Having Hamilton as a team-mate also doesn't help. The seven-time world champion is the focus for many fans and casual supporters. Leclerc, as unfair as it is, is just the other guy at Ferrari to the world outside of F1.

So for years, Leclerc has been unfulfilled potential and not a lot of that is his fault. Given the car, the Monegasque driver can prove himself as one of the best on the grid. So many of his eight grand prix wins have had an element of class about them in that he has rarely in his career had the best car.

Many poke fun at Leclerc for nearly always losing when he takes pole position. Verstappen has more wins from a Leclerc pole than the Ferrari star does (it's true!) but this just ignores the fact that Leclerc's pole laps tend to be acts of him dragging cars up to positions they have no business being in.

Leclerc is now 28 years old. He will be 29 before the season ends and his biggest story in F1 in recent times is his marriage to Alexandra Saint Mleux . It's not quite at the point where time is running out, but one of F1's best drivers of his generation is approaching his 30s having never seriously been in a title battle.

Charles Leclerc F1 Career Stats
Grands Prix	Wins	Podiums	Pole Positions	Fastest Laps	Points
174	8	52	27	11	1,721

Charles Leclerc has to stay at Ferrari

Leclerc has a lot of thinking to do. After signing a Ferrari contract extension in 2024, he is now thought to stay with the team until 2029. That will match Michael Schumacher's record of 11 seasons at Ferrari.

The talent is there for him to walk into any team on the grid to fulfil his world championship dream, yet unlike perhaps any other driver there seems to be a calling for him at Ferrari.

You see, Leclerc driving for another team feels odd. You can't picture him in a McLaren, the corporate behemoth Mercedes, the sports drinks front of Red Bull.

Leclerc is a cut and dry pure Ferrari driver. He gets the team's culture and traditions and has the aggression in his driving that was prevalent in the likes of Ferrari legends Gilles Villeneuve and Michael Schumacher. Jean Alesi while not as successful at Ferrari, also had a style in sync with Ferrari that not all F1 drivers carry and thus still makes him an icon of his era. Leclerc still is an upgraded version of the talented Frenchman.

Driving for Ferrari requires a certain fit and Leclerc has it. He is Ferrari royalty. No matter the lure of potential teams he could go to, his ultimate Formula 1 destiny is to end Ferrari's world championship drought. Leclerc is F1's prince waiting for his chance to become King but deep down everyone knows this has to be at the palace of Maranello.

Written by

Dan Ripley - Global Editor

I've been a massive F1 fan since the mid 1990s and continue to study the history of the sport long before that. As an experienced motor sport reporter covering F1, MotoGP and the LeMans 24 Hour race, being part of GPFans has allowed me to work with a diverse team with all sorts of different backgrounds in watching the sport and given me a greater appreciation of F1.

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F1 Ferrari Charles Leclerc