Leclerc in Red Bull's sights to form a striking duo with Verstappen?
The Red Bull team is not resting on its laurels, despite its unchallenged domination of the race. Formula 1 since 2022. The team, led by Christian Horner and Helmut Marko, has ambitious plans for the future and aims to line up two top-notch driverscapable of putting on a show and fighting for victory at every race.
This is why Red Bull has reportedly contacted two of the hottest drivers of the moment: Lando NorrisMcLaren's top performer, and Charles Leclercwho drives for Ferrari. The latter would be the most surprising and audacious target of the Anglo-Austrian structure, which would have begun discussions with the Monegasque at the end of May, according to the Italian site. Formu1a.
Leclerc, who has extended his contract with Ferrari until 2025, would be one of the few drivers able to compete with Verstappen, his former karting rival. He already has five F1 successes to his name and has established himself as the Scuderia's number one driver, despite the difficulties encountered by the italian team since 2020. He is one of the potential candidates for the world title and enjoys great popularity with fans.
Red Bull would therefore have tried to test his willingness to change horizons, hoping perhaps to take advantage of the fact that Ferrari is not yet in a position to provide him with a competitive single-seater for the championship.
However, it seems unlikely that Leclerc would agree to turn his back on the prestigious red team, to which he is closely linked, in order to join his main rival. Especially as Ferrari is working tirelessly to return to the top, and Leclerc recently expressed his confidence in his employer.
In our opinion, Red Bull will probably have to explore other avenues to strengthen its squad in the future, bearing in mind that Perez and Ricciardo are not certain to keep their places beyond 2023. And Tsunoda could be linked to Aston Martin's future. Norris and Leclerc remain complicated dreams, but they demonstrate the high aspirations of the world champion team.
Ferrari's so-called number one is in the doghouse and Sainz is doing a better job than him.
This pilot is over-rated.