Formula 1: Charles Leclerc to Ferrari confirmation leaked?

The confirmation of Charles Leclerc signing with Ferrari as Kimi Raikkonen’s replacement for the 2019 Formula 1 season was apparently leaked on social media.

For months, there has been speculation that Alfa Romeo Sauber rookie Charles Leclerc will replace 2007 Formula 1 champion Kimi Raikkonen as the teammate to four-time Formula 1 champion Sebastian Vettel at Scuderia Ferrari in the 2019 season.

Over the course of the last few months, these rumors have gone from Leclerc being likely to sign as Raikkonen’s replacement to Raikkonen being likely to continue driving for Ferrari and now back to Leclerc being likely to sign as Raikkonen’s replacement.

However, these recent rumors seem to hold more weight that the previous ones. Several news outlets have already reported that the 20-year-old Monegasque signed a contract to replace the 38-year-old Finn and that Ferrari have simply not made the official confirmation at this point.

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In other words, it seems like only a matter of time before the 2016 GP3 Series and 2017 Formula 2 championship will be confirmed as Vettel’s teammate in the 2019 season.

However, if there was any doubt that this will be the case even with so many news outlets reporting that it would happen, that doubt was pretty much wiped away when heavily substantiated claims were made by Italian company Garage Italia in a Facebook post.

Here is what the company’s post said before it was promptly deleted, according to La Gazzetta dello Sport.

"“Proud to have believed in you since the debut in @f1. Proud to have accompanied you on the track, curve after curve. Happy to see you soon at the wheel of the Red @charles_leclerc”"

The post that replaced this deleted post states the following, according to La Gazzetta dello Sport.

"“We hope that the dream will come true! Garage Italia has always believed in you Charles Leclerc”"

But why are these claims more heavily substantiated than those of the dozens of news outlets that have already all but confirmed that the Ferrari junior driver will be replacing Raikkonen next year?

Garage Italia is headed by Lapo Elkann. Lapo Elkann is the brother of new Ferrari chairman John Elkann. John Elkann took over as Ferrari chairman following the departure of Sergio Marchionne, who was a huge fan of Leclerc and wanted him to replace Raikkonen in 2019, shortly before Marchionne passed away in late July. Draw your own conclusions.

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When will Ferrari officially announce that they have signed Charles Leclerc to replace Kimi Raikkonen beginning in the 2019 Formula 1 season? This news has become one of the worst-kept secrets in Formula 1 history.

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