After finishing as runner-up last year, Ferrari was expected to come back stronger to fight against Red Bull in 2023. However, the reality turned out to be quite the opposite. While the Austrian team made leaps of progress from their 2022 car, Ferrari looked a lot more slower compared to its rivals. That led many to speculate if Charles Leclerc would look for a move elsewhere. But is that really the smartest move?

Leclerc himself is not having the best of time behind the wheel. After showing off his heroics with podium finishes in Sprint and the Main Race in Baku, the Monegasque faltered quite a lot in Miami. He spun and went into the barriers causing damage to his car during one of the practice sessions. Then, he repeated it in Q3 on Saturday, ending his own chances of getting the pole position. Team boss Frederic Vasseur wasn’t too concerned though as he defended his star driver for pushing his and the car’s limits.

Charles Leclerc advised to have faith in Frederic Vasseur

The only destinations that would make sense for Charles to switch to would be Red Bull and Mercedes. However, the managers of both teams have time and again reiterated that their squad is solid and they are not looking to make changes anytime soon. Therefore, it perhaps makes sense for Leclerc to stay with the Prancing Horse. Former Williams team manager turned journalist Peter Windsor had an additional piece of advice for him.

In one of his YouTube videos, Windsor said, “Look, it is clear that Charles would win races this year if he drove a Red Bull tomorrow, but it is not easy to compete with Max Verstappen as a teammate.” [Translated using Google]

“He must believe in Vasseur’s talent and what he can still achieve at Ferrari.”

Speaking about him possibly replacing Lewis Hamilton and partnering up with George Russell at Mercedes in the future, Windsor added, “A teammate like that is a lot harder to beat than Carlos Sainz.”

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Hamilton is currently in the final year of his contract with the Silver Arrows and hasn’t signed an extension yet. However, he spoke about Mercedes being the only team he would like to continue with. Toto Wolff wouldn’t like to lose him either.

Leclerc exists only in Mercedes’ long-term plans: Toto Wolff

Mercedes, going by their last year’s performance and the one, isn’t any closer to challenging Red Bull’s dominance either. And come to think about it, Hamilton isn’t getting any younger. But experience holds great value in F1, as Fernando Alonso has shown this season for Aston Martin. Therefore, Toto isn’t in any mood to let his star man go.

BBC Sport quoted Wolff as saying in Baku, “Charles is a super guy and for the long-term future someone you have to have on your radar but not for the short and medium term.”

“Nobody doubts Charles’ ability and he is a good guy. He is 100 percent committed to Ferrari and we are 100 percent committed to putting pen to paper with Lewis.”

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Do you think Leclerc will push for a move away from Ferrari if the Italian team remains non-competitive? Or will he keep faith in his new manager as Peter Windsor has advised him to?