Charles Leclerc was in fine form on Thursday in the drivers’ press conference ahead of this weekend’s Monaco Grand Prix, with the Monegasque having responded brilliantly to one of this week’s biggest rumours.
Ahead of the sixth round of the Formula 1 season at the Circuit de Monaco, it’s been reported that Lewis Hamilton is set to be offered a £40 million contract to join Ferrari and potentially partner Leclerc next season.
Hamilton is approaching the end of his current deal at Mercedes but revealed on Thursday that a new contract is almost ready to be signed, meaning a switch to Maranello is highly unlikely.
Despite this and the fact that Toto Wolff has labelled the Ferrari offer as “not true”, it was still a huge talking point on Thursday.
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Leclerc was asked during the press conference what he looks for in a team-mate, to which he turned and looked at the seven-time World Champion.
“Hello, Lewis!” joked Leclerc during the pre-weekend drivers’ press conference.
Following the joke, Leclerc explained what he likes in a partner, before praising Carlos Sainz.
“A fast team-mate, as everybody in Formula 1 we love to be fighting against the best. But that’s not to say that my team-mate is not fast,” Leclerc added
“Carlos [Sainz] is an extremely fast driver. But considering that I am not the person who makes the choices [over who his team-mate is or might be] – let’s see.”
Leclerc himself has actually been linked to Mercedes in recent weeks, with Italian media having reported that the Monegasque has been holding secret conversations with the Germans.
This is something else which both Leclerc and Wolff have deemed as untrue, with the 25-year-old likely to stay at Maranello for the foreseeable future.
Leclerc was further asked during the press conference whether he’d welcome Hamilton into the Italians should it ever happen, with him being quick to not speculate on anything happening.
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“If I say yes, I imagine it being the title of every newspaper,” Leclerc responded.
“Lewis is such an incredible driver, he has achieved so much in the sport – I think anybody on the grid would love to have Lewis as a team-mate as everybody would learn a lot from him.
“But I am happy where I am and with Carlos it’s a great relationship too.”