Well, yeah. If Elkann wasn’t fine with it they wouldn’t have signed him. If anything, Sainz was underpaid by comparison.
Via Planet F1 - Charles Leclerc was said to be in the know and welcoming of Lewis Hamilton to Ferrari talks, but a fresh report in the Italian press claims this is not the case. Leclerc will have a new Ferrari team-mate come 2025 in a move very few saw coming, as Hamilton activated an exit clause in his two-year Mercedes deal only signed last August to seal his future move to the Scuderia. Hamilton will take the place of Carlos Sainz, the only non-Red Bull Grand Prix winner of 2023, to form an intriguing and potentially eventful partnership of Hamilton and Leclerc, that possibility heightened by Leclerc’s apparent dismay at the deal. Charles Leclerc and management blindsided by Lewis Hamilton to Ferrari Ferrari’s future pairing does offer up an interesting dynamic, their star academy graduate and poster boy for the pursuit of fresh title success in Leclerc having just recently signed a new Ferrari contract, who will now find himself up against seven-time World Champion and F1 icon Hamilton, who assuming he does not taste F1 2024 title success, will chase that record-breaking eighth with Ferrari in 2025. Nonetheless, initial reports in the Italian press had claimed that Leclerc knew about the Hamilton talks and ‘welcomed’ the chance to test himself against Formula 1’s most successful driver. Corriere dello Sport though has heard different. The publication reports that Leclerc and his management ‘were shocked and disappointed by Ferrari’s decision’, as at the time he signed his contract extension with an undefined expiration, Leclerc and Co ‘had no idea what was about to happen’. It is claimed they have kept quiet on the matter as to not ‘reveal a weakness’.
So, we basically have no idea what the truth is, and it will likely be that way until Leclerc publishes an autobiography 15 years from now.
The Hamilton deal is a nightmare for Charles IMO. I bet he rues the day he came to Ferrari and wishes he could get out. His career is in serious trouble.
Charles just needs to drive well and execute. He has experience and knows the team. A majority of any advantage are with him. His adaptation to the new car will be critical. If LH does this quickly and scores early/consistently vs Charles then some confidence might be affected.
Go Carlos! Sainz ‘working for the future’ and fully focused on 2024 The news of Lewis Hamilton’s move to Ferrari at the end of 2024 sent F1 into a frenzy, but its principal victim, Carlos Sainz, says he’s focused on ending his stint with the Scuderia with a bang. The Spaniard is considered as a strong candidate to fill Hamilton’s vacant seat at Mercedes for 2025 or replace Sergio Perez at Red Bull, while the 29-year-old’s name is also often linked to Sauber’s Audi project that will come to fruition in 2026. Speaking to the media for the first time since last week’s shock news, Sainz mentioned that his management team and himself are already weighing their options for next year. “I’m fine, I’m calm, we’re working for the future but above all for that that we have ahead of us, a very important year, my last year with the team and I want to do the best I can,” Sainz told Sky Sports. “I’m training to prepare as best I can and give everything.” It was speculated that Sainz had been kept in the dark by Ferrari over his fate. However, he dispelled that notion. “From the inside I knew and saw things before all of you, I was prepared,” he added. “But I want to think only about this season, about doing my best for Ferrari in this championship.”
Sainz did a good season for Ferrari last year but I don’t know why I was never « excited « by this pilot.. Let me cold in the end..
We all feel things about situations/ people but Carlos is hardly one to bring out anger but in a few. He seems focused and overall professional with minimal drama involved.
He’s a good driver, but over the past three seasons, he’s only had one truly “heroic” drive, which was Singapore. Charles wowed out of the gate when he was driving like he was possessed and slaying Vettel in his second season.
The problem with Charles IMO is that he is still emotional and cracks under pressure. Hopefully he matures out of this by 2025 but I highly doubt it once Hamilton comes in to play rival. There can only be one #1 driver and I don't think either of them will yield much to the other. Frankly I hope Charles humiliates Lewis for the get go but I'm skeptical. Only way in hell I'm cheering for Ferrari in 2025 is thru Charles.
I wish that Charles Leclerc will beat Hamilton, and makes Elkann realises the huge mistake he made in hiring him. For all that has been said about Leclerc, I feel he is more Ferrari's future than Hamilton.
Rumors from the bbc saying Waché will be soon on its way to Maranello.. It would be a huge news if true!
Ferrari to carry new energy drink F1 sponsor into Hamilton era The Ferrari Formula 1 team has agreed a multi-year partnership with energy drink brand Celsius in one of the first deals announced since the signing of Lewis Hamilton for 2025.
Not really concerned with driver or the politics of them. They both need a car that is capable of winning, and minimizing mistakes to capitalize on the capability to have best chance of the Team winning!
https://www.planetf1.com/news/charles-leclerc-ferrari-warning-lewis-hamilton Although making no mention of Lewis Hamilton’s Ferrari move, Charles Leclerc has made it abundantly clear he’s not in Formula 1 to finish second to anyone, he wants to win the World title. Last month Ferrari confirmed Leclerc had signed an extension that would keep him with the Maranello team beyond the 2024 season. However, a week later they shocked the paddock when they announced it isn’t Carlos Sainz who will be his 2025 team-mate, it’s Hamilton. I’m only happy when I win, second place is not my target’ The seven-time World Champion will join Ferrari after his 12th and final season with Mercedes having signed a multi-year deal. But while pundits have pondered how Leclerc would’ve taken the news, Corriere dello Sport claiming he is “shocked and disappointed by Ferrari’s decision”, there was no sign of that as he gave his first interview since Hamilton’s confirmation. Instead, there was just a subtle warning that he’s not here to be second best to anyone. “To win the championship, this is the only target I have. I’m only happy when I win, second place is not my target,” he said as per the Daily Mail. “You need to give yourself realistic targets as well, as much as we are always optimistic and try to do the best job possible. “We all want to win but looking at where we are starting from from last year, Red Bull had a big advantage. So now we need to close the gap as much as possible. “So we will do absolutely everything to try and, and do the step that, that is our goal in order to challenge.” A bit sensational headline, but it's true that Leclerc is only focused on winning the WDC himself. I hope for Ferrari's sake they took this into consideration with the Hamilton hire. I think that if the Scuderia even for a moment favored Lewis, Leclerc would be gone faster than you can say "multi-year contract".
If there was a hint of Charles facing a 'favored' LH, I would hope he would stay and fight LH and not run like Vettel did lol. I see Charles fighting harder to win vs LH which is also what Ferrari expect of him. If he leaves then he is a loser in the situation. As in all driver moves, people care for about 5 min, adapt to the new situation and keep watching. The faux shock and hysterics mean little and are not long lasting.
Ferrari don't even favor him vs Sainz. It's an easy bet that he'll be a distant #2 to LH. He'll see the writing on the wall and bail, if he already isn't looking for an out. What will happen to Ferrari is they will have a vastly overpriced driver way past his prime and nothing else.
For what its worth (from a Facebook feed), Newey’s wife says Adrian regrets not working with Hamilton and Ferrari. With the CH stuff going on, I wonder if there is fire behind the smoke? Sent from my iPhone using FerrariChat
