One Red Bull chief believes Charles Leclerc may well be able to get out of his current Ferrari contract if he wanted to pursue a move to a rival team.
The Monegasque was given a five-year deal back in 2019 as the Italians signalled their intention to build their future around him. And they returned to the title fight last season as hoped, giving Leclerc hope that Ferrari would help him to achieve his personal Formula 1 ambitions.
But, since then, their progress appears to have stalled. Despite plenty of positive noises coming out of Maranello in pre-season, Ferrari have endured a wretched start to the new season with more reliability woes, while their car performance cannot match that of the Red Bull cars.
Leclerc is contracted to Ferrari until the end of next year. But, as Helmut Marko speculates, there may be mechanisms within the legalese of that deal which allow for it to be terminated early if certain performance criteria are not met.
The Austrian told Sport1: "These performance clauses are common today. It roughly states that a driver must have a certain number of points at a certain point in the season, usually in late summer, in order for the contract to be automatically renewed.
"If this is not the case, both parties have the option of terminating." Marko went on to reveal he was speaking from Red Bull's own experience, adding: "It was for this reason that Sebastian Vettel was able to switch to Ferrari so easily in 2015."
It remains to be seen where Leclerc might end up if he were to decide on a change. He has been most heavily linked with the Mercedes seat which will one day – possibly at the end of this season – be vacated by Lewis Hamilton.
Renowned Italian F1 journalist Leo Turrini reports that Leclerc has been in contact with the Silver Arrows. "Leclerc is talking to Mercedes is the open secret. Everyone knows it, from the remote garage in Maranello to the Indian Ocean," he wrote for Quotidiano Nazionale.
Red Bull is the other top team which might interest Leclerc. But Max Verstappen and Sergio Perez are both contracted beyond the end of this season – plus, racing in the same team as the Dutchman might not be attractive to someone with Leclerc's ambitions, given how others have struggled in that role.
