Charles Leclerc has signed an improved contract to remain at Ferrari for the next three seasons in a deal worth £100million.
The 28-year-old’s continuation at the team he has been associated with for a decade came in the week of his home race, the showpiece Monaco Grand Prix.
Leclerc’s terms represent a significant hike from his existing salary of some £25m up to approaching £35m, if bonuses kick in. The exact figure depends on his and Ferrari’s success – yet, whatever the exact amount, his earnings remain well behind those of his team-mate Lewis Hamilton.
The seven-time world champion – whose success and global fame command their own price – and Red Bull’s Max Verstappen remain far and away the best-remunerated drivers on the grid with salaries of £80m-plus, again dependent on performance-related extras.
Leclerc’s current contract, signed in 2024, took him through to the end of this season, with an option to extend to the end of 2027. This new arrangement ties him down in both 2027 and 2008 with an option to continue in 2029. His package puts him on a similar financial footing to McLaren’s Lando Norris and marginally ahead of Mercedes’ George Russell.
It is understood from well-informed sources – in information that seems logical and in step with contract negotiation protocol – that Leclerc has built-in release clauses so he can trigger an exit route should the Ferrari car not meet his hopes.
Ferrari duo Charles Leclerc and Lewis Hamilton have both enjoyed positive starts to the season
Whatever the minutiae, Ferrari’s line-up for next season seems likely to see a continuation of the Hamilton-Leclerc partnership. Hamilton, 41, spoke forcefully at the last race in Montreal in ruling out any prospect of his imminent retirement.
Hamilton, though still without a win since joining the Scuderia in 2025, has enjoyed a resurgence in the first five rounds of the season, including his best result in red a fortnight ago, when he finished second at the Gilles Villeneuve Circuit.
Leclerc, however, is three points ahead of Hamilton in the standings, in third place versus the Briton’s fourth place.
The Monegasque has long been Ferrari’s golden boy. He joined their Driver Academy in 2016 before winning the Formula Two title in 2017. He made his Formula One debut with Sauber prior to being awarded the Ferrari seat in 2019, making the first of his 155 starts for the Scuderia at that year’s Australian Grand Prix.
‘It has always been so much more than just a team to me,’ said Leclerc, who has won eight races and secured 52 podiums. ‘It’s the team I’ve loved and dreamt of being part of since I was a child, and after all these years it has become a second family.
‘Together we’ve shared incredible moments and some tougher ones, but I believe in this team more than ever, and I’m deeply grateful that we will keep pushing side by side toward our shared goal of bringing the World Championship back to Maranello.
‘Being a Ferrari driver is a dream, but it’s also a responsibility I never take for granted.
‘I’ll continue to give absolutely everything I have to bring this team back to where it belongs for the tifosi.’
