Ferrari team principal Fred Vasseur has revealed the Scuderia could follow Mercedes’ lead and wait as long as the summer before confirming new deals for Charles Leclerc and Carlos Sainz.
Whilst it is believed the two drivers will remain with Ferrari beyond the end of the 2024 season when their contracts expire, Vasseur is offering no cast-iron guarantees.
Leclerc has been with the team for five seasons, with Sainz as his team-mate for the past three.
The 2023 campaign proved to be a difficult one for all at Ferrari under Vasseur’s leadership for the first time, albeit with the Frenchman inheriting the downturn that occurred at the end of 2022.
Ferrari did score the only non-Red Bull victory of last year, with Sainz taking the chequered flag in Singapore, whilst Leclerc, in particular, performed strongly over the closing races following an upgrade on the SF23 that saw him finish runner-up in Las Vegas and Abu Dhabi.
The futures of the two drivers, however, remain in doubt. Sainz notably made clear just before Christmas that he did not want to start the new season without knowing if he had a new deal in place from 2025.
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Vasseur, though, has suggested he is prepared to bide his time, potentially as long as Mercedes waited last year before confirming a new two-year contract for Lewis Hamilton at the end of August.
Asked whether Leclerc or Sainz had anything to prove to him to earn new contracts, speaking to Speedcafe in an interview conducted over the Abu Dhabi GP weekend, Vasseur said: “We have a very good relationship, with very open discussions.
“It’s also why we can work together, to come back together. It’s not a matter that they have to prove something, and we have time.
“If you look at Mercedes, they renewed Lewis’ contract in August, so we have time to extend the contracts.”
As to whether he felt it would go that far, he said: “We have time to think about it.”
Vasseur has made clear that as an organisation, and after finishing third in last season’s constructors’ championship, Ferrari has to deliver this year, and that includes himself and his two drivers.
“We have tonnes of things to improve,” said Vasseur. “They know perfectly where they are doing well, and where they have to improve on their side. It’s clear.
“But it’s also clear we have to improve a lot on the car, in every single area. Evaluating the team, we can always expect more, and we always want more from everybody, including me, including the drivers.
“It’s not that we have to limit it to someone or a single department. Performance comes from everywhere, from everybody, and we have room for improvement everywhere.
“We have open discussions on this. We all know what we have to do and where we have to improve, and I’m not stressed about this.”
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