With his current deal set to expire at the end of 2024, it’s been reported by French outlet Sportune that Charles Leclerc has agreed to a new two-year contract with Ferrari, taking him to the end of 2026 with the Italians.
However, it’s believed that the deal has an option to be extended until the end of 2029, beyond Max Verstappen’s lucrative deal which expires in 2028.
Should the report be accurate, then Leclerc would earn much closer to what Verstappen and Lewis Hamilton currently take home.
Leclerc would earn well over £160 million, whilst he could take home £43 million in 2029 alone.
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Should Leclerc sign the reported deal, then it would finally end speculation linking him to Mercedes, and a swap deal with Hamilton.
The 25-year-old has been linked to Mercedes for the bulk of the season; however, he admitted recently that his name being discussed shows he’d doing his “job well”.
“It certainly means that I do my job well,” Leclerc told Corriere della Serra at the Belgian Grand Prix.
“But these rumours leave me indifferent, because I know what I want. But I still don’t know what Ferrari wants from me. The contract discussions haven’t started yet, but for me everything is clear.”
Leclerc also confirmed that despite speculation, Mercedes team principal Toto Wolff hadn’t spoken to him, with his focus being on Ferrari.
“No, not yet. Not for the moment. For now, I am fully focused on the project I am in today, which is Ferrari, and I fully trust and am confident for the future. Then we will see, but I am fully confident for the project of Ferrari.”
It’s looking increasingly likely that both Leclerc and Hamilton will stay with their current teams, as a new deal for Hamilton is seemingly getting closer and closer.
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Wolff admitted that he’s “very confident” that the seven-time World Champion will stay at Mercedes, with a lot of the details having been agreed on.
“I’m still very confident [of striking a deal],” Wolff said in July. “They want to do it super, to every detail and sometimes you can have a situation where everything is carved out.
“This is not a money discussion at all. It is about the future, what is it that we want to do right and optimise? We’re not talking anything anymore about duration, money, all of that – it’s other topics.”