Charles Leclerc insists he has “full trust” in Ferrari’s senior figures when it comes to selecting the successor to its Formula 1 team boss Mattia Binotto.
Ferrari announced late last month that Binotto had tendered his resignation as Team Principal after four years in charge, and following 25 years in total at the company.
It came at the end of a season in which Ferrari returned to front-running contention, scoring its first wins since 2019, but relinquished its title ambitions mid-season and drifted away from Red Bull.
Speaking at the FIA Gala Leclerc praised the departing Binotto as “he believed in me right from the very start, and [gave me] a very long contract” and pointed to being “inside the Scuderia for many years, contributing to the success the team had in the past years.”
Leclerc stressed that choosing a successor is “obviously not my decision” and that “we are trying to focus our job on the simulator to have the best race car for next year”, highlighting that it will be down to Ferrari CEO Benedetto Vigna and Chairman John Elkann.
“Obviously the last few weeks have been a bit difficult for the team and we are in a transition time at the moment,” he said.
“But on that I have the full trust on Benedetto and John to take the right decision, but I am sure that 2023 will be another step forward and hopefully get closer to the goal we all want in the team which is to be world champion.”
Current Alfa Romeo boss Frederic Vasseur is the heavy favourite to land the role; Leclerc previously worked with Vasseur in 2016, when he competed for the Frenchman’s ART Grand Prix outfit in GP3, and in 2018, when he raced for Sauber in his rookie Formula 1 campaign.
“I mean Ferrari is a very different team to any other team,” said Leclerc.
“I can only comment on my experience with Fred, which has obviously been good.
“I worked with him in junior categories where he has believed in me and we’ve always had a good relationship but apart from that obviously that shouldn’t influence any of the decisions.
“He has always been straightforward and honest, this is something I like from Fred, but whether it will be him or not I don’t know.”
