ferrari
Ferrari team principal Frederic Vasseur has stated that the team is “not in a rush” to begin negotiating new contracts with Charles Leclerc and Carlos Sainz. Both drivers’ current contracts expire at the end of 2024, and 12 other drivers on the F1 grid have contracts that expire the following year.
However, according to Italian media, Leclerc has signed a new five-year contract extension with Ferrari until 2029, while Sainz’s future remains unknown. Vasseur had stated that he expected the contracts to be signed by the end of 2023, but is now referring to rivals Mercedes waiting until August earlier this year to extend Lewis Hamilton’s contract, which was supposed to expire at the end of the year.
“We are not in a rush to extend the deals but have started discussions. Mercedes did it in August. We are not in a rush at all. This season, I was expecting to do it before the end of the year. But the season was a huge one and we have started the discussion. But, again, we are not in a rush.” said Vasseur.
Leclerc, who went through the Ferrari academy before joining Sauber, has been with the team since 2019. Sainz joined the team in 2021 after previously driving for Toro Rosso, Renault, and McLaren. Despite Leclerc’s three podiums in the final four races, Ferrari finished three points behind Mercedes in the 2023 Constructors’ Championship. Sainz won the only non-Red Bull race of the year in Singapore and finished just six points behind his teammate in the Drivers’ Championship, with the Ferrari combination finishing fifth and seventh.
Vasseur, who took over as team boss from Mattia Binotto at the start of the season, believes Ferrari “shouldn’t be scared to take risks” after taking a “huge step forward” in the second half of the season.
