Charles Leclerc would face one ‘extreme’ obstacle if he ever tried to leave Ferrari

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The closest Charles Leclerc has ever come to tasting Formula 1 glory is when he finished second in the title race back in 2022.

Unfortunately, his spell at Ferrari has been doomed by cars which have never been properly capable of fighting for a drivers’ championship.

Approaching the age of 28, Leclerc only has so many of his prime years left, and he won’t want to waste them fighting for points rather than wins.

The Monegasque driver would be a hot commodity on the Formula 1 driver market, and most top teams would love to take a look at him.

Fred Vasseur avoided a question about Leclerc and the issues he faced at the Hungarian Grand Prix, which saw him drop out of contention for the win.

Despite his improved form recently, Ferrari are ‘brainwashing’ Leclerc, and he needs to be pushing them a little harder to extract more performance.

READ MORE: Jolyon Palmer ‘suddenly’ saw something in Charles Leclerc’s data that could explain his Hungarian Grand Prix decline

Charles Leclerc would face an ‘extreme’ emotional obstacle if he tried to leave Ferrari

Leclerc proved ‘frustration is growing’ at Ferrari after his radio messages seemed very tense at the Hungarian Grand Prix. It was clear he had a problem with how things were panning.

Having been at the team for six years, Leclerc has more ‘experience’ than Lewis Hamilton when it comes to tackling some of their car issues.

But there may only be so much more of it that he can take. If Ferrari rock up to the 2026 F1 regulations with a poor car, he might be tempted to look for other openings.

The Race’s Scott Mitchell-Malm believes that the ‘extreme’ emotional obstacles would make any decision to depart very tough for Leclerc.

“I think he might be there for as long as Fred Vassseur’s there now. Because I just have a sneaking feeling that Charles might begin to believe that if Fred can’t turn it around, then maybe nobody can really turn Ferrari into what he needs it to be,” he said.

“I think it would be an even more extreme version of Verstappen weighing up whether to leave Red Bull, because that emotional connection to Ferrari runs a hell of a lot deeper than even Verstappen’s does with Red Bull.”

READ MORE: Charles Leclerc told he should have been given a brand new penalty for ‘dangerous’ George Russell move

Why Ferrari aren’t helping Charles Leclerc reach his full potential

Over the last 16 races in which Leclerc has taken a pole position, he has claimed victory in just one of them – Monaco 2024.

That might suggest that his setups are geared toward one-lap pace, or have been in the past. This season, he has reached the podium more than he has qualified in the top three.

Ferrari are not helping Leclerc reach his full potential, and recent upgrades need to address their lack of speed over one lap.

It has been a worry for Hamilton this season as well. Competing for a title in 2026 will be impossible, and wins will be hard to come by if they leave themselves with too much work to do on a Sunday.