Leclerc makes Ferrari demand following Binotto sacking rumour

Ewan Gale
Friday 18 November 2022 09:01

Charles Leclerc has conceded the rumour mill will continuously turn around Ferrari after the team was forced to deny reports Mattia Binotto was poised to be sacked.

The Scuderia flattered to deceive this season after an ominous start fizzled out into a campaign fraught with error to leave Red Bull to march to both the drivers' and constructors' championships for the first time since 2014.

The latest comedy of errors took place in Brazil where Leclerc was twice let down by strategic and operational mistakes, leaving the Monégasque furious at the end of qualifying.

Reports then emerged in La Gazzetta dello Sport that suggested Binotto would be sacked in January and replaced by Alfa Romeo counterpart Fred Vasseur, only for the speculation to be quickly shut down by Ferrari.

Asked for his reaction, Leclerc said: "There are always rumours around Formula 1 and especially about Ferrari. This doesn't change, obviously.

"When we are getting to the end of the season, there are always voices around us but I think as a team, we need to focus on our job on track, try to extract everything that is happening around the team.

"People tend to forget how big a step we have done from last year to this year.

"There is definitely another step we need to do. I am sure we will do it all together starting with this race to finish off the season.

"Apart from that, there is nothing more to say. I don't think we should give too much attention."

Leclerc accuses media of "big statement"

Binotto has been at the helm since 2019 when he took over from Maurizio Arrivabene to become the fourth Ferrari team principal in five years after the reigns of Marco Mattiacci and Stefano Domenicali.

But with a period of stability, which is "paying off", according to Leclerc, he insisted: "We have shown in the last two years we are improving.

"There is a step we need to do but we are working at that. I am sure we will achieve that."

Asked what he believed triggered the report, Leclerc added: "It was a big statement made by the media but they remain rumours.

"For the team, it is not great to read these things so it is good the team has cleared the air and hopefully we can focus 100 percent on the last weekend."