‘You’ve got to trust the project’ – Leclerc reaffirms desire to ‘win in red’ with Ferrari

Charles Leclerc has reiterated his desire to “win in red” with Ferrari going forward, the Monegasque having reaffirmed the need to “trust the project” as he looks to the future with the team.

The Scuderia have faced ups and downs during the 2025 campaign, leading Leclerc to state after the Singapore Grand Prix that he did not feel there was “anything in the car that proves to me that we are going to do a step forward”.

However, when asked during Thursday’s media day in Austin about the importance of next season in terms of the driver market for 2027, Leclerc responded: “I've made it very clear. My opinion is that I love the team and I've always loved Ferrari and I want to win again with Ferrari, and that doesn't really change.

“Whenever you are in a team, you've got to trust the project to be able to give your best, but I love Ferrari and I've always been extremely grateful to them, and I want to win in red, so that is my main priority at the moment.

“No matter what are the noises around us, we don't really focus on that. We've got to focus on our job. Next year will be very important of course because it's a new era and we need to start it on the right foot, but I'm looking forward to it.

“I think there's a lot of opportunity in us doing a great job, and that will help a lot for the four years after.”

For now Leclerc is focused on the weekend ahead at the United States Grand Prix, a race in which he claimed victory back in 2024.

Pushed on how he is feeling ahead of the final six rounds of the campaign, the eight-time race winner said: “I'm fully motivated. When things are not going our way, I think we're all fully motivated to turn the situation around.

“We don't have any upgrades where we might think, ‘Okay, we're going to do a significant step forward’, but if we put everything together perfectly, especially on a weekend like this with a Sprint, it can be an opportunity. I hope we can be back on the podium – it's been a long time.”

And while Leclerc will not give up hope when it comes to the chance of repeating his win at the Circuit of The Americas, the Ferrari driver played down the possibility of this happening.

When asked if there was the opportunity to triumph again this year, Leclerc answered: “I hope so, but I think realistically that's not realistic at the moment.

“We will do everything in order to reproduce that but, more than just trying to reproduce that, it's more about focusing on the small details and trying to make sure we do steps forward.

“At the moment we are on the back foot compared to Red Bull, Mercedes and McLaren in terms of overall performance.

“But on a weekend like this where there are less opportunities to change the set-up and to fine-tune, there might be the opportunity to do something special, and we need to take that opportunity.”