Formula 1: Ferrari just need to sign Charles Leclerc already

By Asher Fair | Aug 11, 2018

SHANGHAI, CHINA - APRIL 14: Charles Leclerc of Monaco driving the (16) Alfa Romeo Sauber F1 Team C37 Ferrari (Photo by Lintao Zhang/Getty Images) /

Alfa Romeo Sauber rookie Charles Leclerc deserves to be signed by Scuderia Ferrari for the 2019 Formula 1 season. Ferrari just need to sign him already.

Back in June, it was revealed that Scuderia Ferrari are to sign Alfa Romeo Sauber rookie Charles Leclerc to replace 2007 Formula 1 champion Kimi Raikkonen as their second driver in the 2019 Formula 1 season.

Later that month, it was even revealed that Leclerc and Ferrari and reached an agreement that the 20-year-old Monegasque had not yet signed.

Yet here we are in August, and Ferrari have yet to announce which driver will be a teammate to four-time Formula 1 champion Sebastian Vettel next season. In other words, if said agreement truly exists, Leclerc still hasn’t signed it.

Here’s why Ferrari need to just sign Leclerc already.

Leclerc’s statistics in his rookie season driving for Sauber speak for themselves. He recorded five top 10 finishes and 13 points in a six-race span after all of Sauber’s drivers combined had managed just five top 10 finishes and 11 points in their combined 96 races before that going all the way back to the 2015 season.

By recording five top 10 finishes in a six-race span, Leclerc became the first Sauber driver to do so since Kamui Kobayashi finished six consecutive races in the top 10 in the 2011 season.

Also, Leclerc’s sixth place finish in the Azerbaijan Grand Prix was the highest finish by a Sauber driver since Felipe Nasr’s sixth place finish in the 2015 Russian Grand Prix.

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But Leclerc’s results aren’t the only reason why Ferrari need to just sign him already.

It is a well-known fact that Raikkonen plays a support role to Vettel. That is why is he currently driving for the team on a one-year contract for the third straight season despite the fact that he has not won a single race since returning to the team in the 2014 season.

Yet Vettel, who is in his fourth season driving for Ferrari alongside Raikkonen, has not yet managed to win a championship driving for the Maranello-based team. Signing Raikkonen to a one-year deal for the fourth consecutive season for the sole purpose of helping Vettel is a wasted move on Ferrari’s part, especially with Leclerc waiting in the wings to do more than play a support role for the team.

Vettel currently trails Mercedes-AMG Petronas Motorsport’s Lewis Hamilton by 24 points (213 to 189) in the driver standings. While Ferrari appear to be stronger this season than they were last season, last year at this time, Vettel actually led Hamilton by 14 points (202 to 188) in the driver standings. Hamilton still won the championship by 46 points (363 to 317).

In other words, it will take a lot more than a few improvements on Ferrari’s part to make Vettel the true championship favorite over Hamilton, who is also seeking his fifth career Formula 1 championship. Re-signing Raikkonen would do next to nothing to change this.

So why not sign Leclerc? At this point, that would be Ferrari’s best option.

The 2016 GP3 Series champion and 2017 Formula 2 champion is widely regarded as a future Formula 1 champion, and there is no reason for Ferrari to delay signing him when he has already developed quite well as a driver and displayed tons of talent in the first 12 races of his Formula 1 career. He has what it takes to compete for race victories and championships if Ferrari sign him.

By re-signing Raikkonen, Ferrari might gain a few extra points for Vettel that probably won’t matter in the championship fight anyway.

By signing Leclerc, Ferrari would gain a young driver who could potentially spend 15 or more years driving for the team, likely winning several races and championships along the way.

What team wouldn’t want to take the latter?

Next. Top 10 Formula 1 drivers of all-time. dark

When will Ferrari announce who their second driver will be in the 2019 Formula 1 season? Will that driver be Charles Leclerc?

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