Frederic Vasseur says the chaos at the end of 2023 F1 season hampered the talks to extend contracts of Charles Leclerc and Carlos Sainz.
With both Leclerc and Sainz’s contract ending at the end of the 2024 F1 season, Ferrari is on the lookout to secure a new deal with the same drivers for beyond the current year. The talks have already begun but couldn’t be finalised at the end of 2023.
Vasseur had a target to do so then but the chaotic end to the year didn’t help them in signing a new one. While there are no question marks over Leclerc, who could see a new deal coming his way for three seasons at least but Sainz’s side is up in the air.
He is chasing a two-year deal which he is likely to get as well. “They are under contract with us until the end of 2024,” said Vasseur. “It means that we have still 12 months in front of us. It’s quite comfortable. We have still a lot of weeks and months in front of us. I told [the press] that I will try to take a decision before the end of the year.
“I have to admit that the last part of the 2023 season was a big chaos for everybody. I think that it was very demanding. We had meetings and we started the discussion, but we are late compared to the initial plan. But it’s not an issue at all. We are much in advanced compared to Mercedes [announcing new deals for in late August].
“We are easy on this and will take the decision soon. We are not in a rush at all,” summed up Vasseur, who stressed on equal status for both Leclerc and Sainz as was the case seen during the course of the 2023 F1 season.
“We showed in 2023 that we have a more than equal treatment between the drivers,” continued Vasseur. “I remember perfectly that one year ago that I had tons of questions about Charles number one and Carlos number two and blah, blah, blah, blah… It’s not that we have a number one, the bigger asset.
“We have two drivers. They are doing a good job. I think one of the good point of the season is that they score almost the same number of points. I will consider the 2023 season in the same way to give them exactly the same level,” summed up Vasseur.
Here’s F1 2023 teams’ tier order: https://formularapida.net/f1-2023-teams-categorised-in-tier-system-for-their-performances/
Here’s F1 2023 drivers’ tier order: https://formularapida.net/f1-2023-drivers-categorised-in-tier-system-for-their-performances/
Here’s Frederic Vasseur praising Red Bull’s performant culture
Here’s Carlos Sainz on Ferrari’s qualifying run masking race performance
Here’s Frederic Vasseur pleased with Ferrari not overreacting
Here’s Frederic Vasseur on nationality scenario
Here’s Carlos Sainz on fair constructors’ results
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