Charles Leclerc’s feelings on long-term Ferrari future shared after Italian Grand Prix frustration

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Ferrari driver Charles Leclerc couldn’t repeat his heroics from 2024 to win a third Italian Grand Prix in front of the Tifosi on Sunday.

Only Michael Schumacher has won the Italian Grand Prix on three occasions for Ferrari, and that was what Charles Leclerc was aiming for going into the weekend.

He couldn’t follow up on his wins in 2019 and 2024, and instead, Leclerc finished fourth at Monza for the third time in his career.

Leclerc beat Lewis Hamilton once again, although the seven-time world champion earned plenty of credit for making up four positions after receiving a five-place grid penalty.

It means after 16 Grand Prix weekends, Ferrari are still searching for their first victory of 2025, excluding Hamilton’s Sprint Race win in China.

Fred Vasseur is now hoping Ferrari hold onto second in the constructors’ championship, with McLaren potentially able to wrap up back-to-back titles at the upcoming Azerbaijan Grand Prix.

The SF-25 was supposed to be a championship challenger given how well Ferrari ended last season, but Leclerc and Hamilton have been left frustrated by its lack of competitiveness.

Leclerc is closing in on his seventh season as a Ferrari driver, and journalist Frederic Ferret has shared more details about his feelings on sticking with the Scuderia going forward.

READ MORE: Five worst moments of Charles Leclerc’s F1 career including Monaco GP curse and Bahrain GP heartbreak

Charles Leclerc has the Ferrari ‘virus’ and isn’t seeking an immediate exit

Frederic Ferret was asked on the F1 Nation Podcast if, after seven years, Leclerc is beginning to get frustrated at Ferrari and whether his future could be elsewhere.

Leclerc is currently on a long-term Ferrari contract, and Ferret replied: “I don’t think so.

“I think he got the virus when he was a kid. He’s like Jean Alesi.

“I’m pretty sure that you have spoken to Jean about that. When he was about to sign with Ferrari, he also had a contract with Williams, which was the car to be the world champion.

“And then even today, I can tell you that he’s not pretending when he says that.

“He says I don’t regret a single thing because I’m forever a Ferrari driver, and Charles is the same.”

READ MORE: Everything you need to know about Scuderia Ferrari from team principal to factory

Charles Leclerc identifies Ferrari’s best chances of winning a Grand Prix during the 2025 season

Leclerc was speaking to Sky Sports F1 after the race about the rest of the season at Ferrari, and he explained: “Baku is a track I love, which I’ve been very strong at in the past, but then again, coming to the race, it’s a track where it’s also very easy to overtake, and if you don’t have the race pace in the race, you can definitely feel it.

“So that’s going to be tricky, but then you’ve got Singapore, where qualifying is very important and then the race is more difficult to overtake, and I love this track as well.

“So I think Singapore, maybe Baku and Las Vegas are the three tracks that maybe we are a bit closer to winning a race, but that doesn’t mean we go there as the two favourites.

“I think we still go there as third favourites.

“If Red Bull struggles for a reason, [we are] maybe a second force, but never the first one, so it’s always going to be quite uphill and difficult.”

Leclerc has five podiums to his name this season, and his home race in Monaco was the closest he came to victory, finishing second behind Lando Norris.

Ferrari are likely to need McLaren, or even Max Verstappen and George Russell, to suffer a failure for either of their drivers to stand on the top step of the podium.

A winless season is unlikely to sway Leclerc to suddenly consider moving on, but it will be fascinating to see how many years the Monegasque driver will put up with being an outsider for the championship at Ferrari.