Charles Leclerc wary of time passed as Ferrari title wait continues

Charles Leclerc stressed that the “passion” which he has felt ever since joining Ferrari remains to this day, unwavering. 

Yet, Leclerc also pointed to his “will to win”, and acknowledged that “time has passed” with he and Ferrari still on the joint mission to reach the F1 pinnacle. But, with a hectic driver market potentially ahead, Leclerc perhaps dropped an important hint on his Ferrari commitment by stating hope that their “time will come this year or as soon as possible.”

Charles Leclerc wary of passing time in Ferrari mission

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Leclerc made his Ferrari debut back in 2019. Since then, he has won eight grands prix, and has established himself as a leading talent of the Formula 1 grid.

But, a sustained title challenge is something which had eluded Leclerc and Ferrari throughout this union so far.

At the Japanese Grand Prix, Leclerc explained exactly what Ferrari means to him, as the Scuderia’s academy graduate continues his pursuit of a first title.

Ferrari has not achieved such success since its 2008 Constructors’ title win.

The “will to win” also burns strong within Leclerc.

Leclerc’s manager, Nicolas Todt, last year stressed the importance of Ferrari providing Leclerc with a title-worthy car.

Leclerc also gave a “now or never” verdict on Ferrari fighting for the title in 2026.

“Ferrari is family and a team that I’ve always loved and dreamed of driving for since I was a kid, and this hasn’t changed one bit since I joined the team in 2019,” said Leclerc at Suzuka.

“So, the passion is still there.

“Then of course the will to win, and we want to win eventually, and I want to win.

“It’s been so many years obviously working with the team to try and come back to the top. It’s been a good step forward this year, we are just not yet where we want to be, and we’ll keep pushing towards that direction.

“I hope our time will come soon because yes, it’s been a long time since I started and obviously time has passed. I’m doing my best and I hope our time will come this year or as soon as possible.”

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Ferrari emerged as the greatest threat to frontrunners Mercedes at the start of F1 2026, a new era for the sport.

Yet, McLaren’s Oscar Piastri, in his first grand prix start of the season, gave Mercedes its biggest scare yet at Suzuka.

Leclerc is not surprised that McLaren has emerged as fierce competition in the quest to reel in Mercedes.

“I kind of expected them to make this kind of progress,” said Leclerc on McLaren. “They are a very, very, very strong team. We’ve seen it last year. They had an incredible car.

“They’ve had a bit of a rough start to the season. But, it’s not such a surprise to see them back to where they should be, and I’m sure that there’s a lot of progress also in the next few races.

“So on our side, we need to stay on it and keep pushing, because, as I said at the beginning of the year, it’s going to be a development championship, where development is going to play a much bigger role than it has in the past few years.

“We need to be on top of that.”

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