Charles Leclerc offered Ferrari escape route amid ‘angry’ engineers report

Voicing his frustration that Ferrari does not have the car to fight at the front, Mario Andretti says he would happily offer Charles Leclerc a way out of Ferrari, but that Cadillac “needs a couple of years”.

Leclerc finished a distant P6 at the Singapore Grand Prix as Ferrari’s main rival for second in the Constructors’ Championship, Mercedes, clinched its second grand prix win of this season.

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That put Mercedes 27 points clear of Ferrari, who has yet to win a grand prix nor has the Italian stable featured on the podium in the last five races.

Leclerc was downbeat about his prospects in the remaining six races.

“Unfortunately, we don’t have the race car to fight with the guys in front,” he told the media at the Marina Bay circuit.

Going on to declare that Ferrari’s rivals had all made steps forward and that “Mercedes now is at the same level of McLaren and Red Bull”, he added: “And then there’s us.

“It’s not easy, obviously, because you want to fight for better positions. But at the moment, it just feels like we are passengers to the car and we cannot extract much more.”

Coming on the back of his comments that it is “very unlikely” Ferrari will win a race this season, Italian publication Corriere dello Sport claimed his criticism hasn’t gone down well at Maranello.

The report states: ‘Among the engineers themselves, there are those who are angry with Leclerc for his uncompromising criticism of the car and how it is managed.’

Gazzetta dello Sport stated that Leclerc’s comments ‘paint a discouraging picture of the entire Maranello environment’, and that ‘relations between the various departments of the team are strained.’

So strained that if Ferrari doesn’t undergo a notable change in fortunes next season when F1 resets the regulations, Leclerc’s manager Nicholas Todt has warned he will start looking at his options for 2027.

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“He’s not a kid anymore,” he told the Straight Times. “He’s been racing with Ferrari for many seasons. We need a winning car… Many drivers will want to see how competitive the various teams are before deciding whether to stay or change teams. I expect a very hot market.”

A market that Cadillac’s Andretti wishes the American team could have a say in, at least when it comes to Leclerc.

But the 1978 F1 World Champion, who is on the board of directors at the Cadillac team, admits the American team will need a few years before it can make a play for a driver like Leclerc.

“I’m a big fan of Leclerc, and if he ever wanted to change teams, I’d take him on at Cadillac right away,” Andretti said as per F1inGenerale at the Trento Sports Festival.

“He’s able to win races, and if he has the car he would be able to win a championship.

“I would (sign him) tomorrow, without a doubt. I would welcome him with open arms. We need a couple of years, we have to deserve such a talent.

“I like Leclerc, he’s a very capable driver. He, for sure, needs a different car.”

“But,” he conceded, “Ferrari will always be there. Sooner or later they will come up with something.”

Leclerc is fifth in the Drivers’ standings on 173 points, 163 behind championship leader Oscar Piastri.

It’s not the first time this season that questions have been asked about the Monegasque driver’s future with Ferrari.

He quashed those rumours earlier this season, saying: “I am very surprised, I mean, I have no idea where it is coming from.

“So I’d rather just ignore it, and I’ve never said anything like this in the last few races. If anything, I keep saying how much I love the team and want to bring Ferrari back to the top, so I was surprised.”

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