Because of his passion for the storied Scuderia, Charles Leclerc has stated that he only wants to win the Formula 1 world championship with Ferrari, "no matter how long it takes." After joining the Ferrari academy in 2016, the 27-year-old was elevated to the F1 team three years later. Since then, he has won eight Grand Prix races and placed as high as second in the standings.

Given his extraordinary talent, Leclerc's absence of a world championship is a disgrace. He won many junior championships and finished ahead of his teammate in all but one of his Ferrari years.

Leclerc is now fifth in the standings and 161 points behind leader Oscar Piastri in the dominating McLaren, and the Italian team has only struggled to provide him with a car that can win a championship.

Charles Leclerc: Why Ferrari Is His Only Dream for F1 Glory

"Because I love this team very much, I think that's the answer," Leclerc responded when asked what keeps him from trying to move elsewhere ahead of this weekend's Azerbaijan Grand Prix. My motivation stems from my lifelong passion for Ferrari, which drives me to do all it takes to return it to the top.

"At the moment, I'm totally into it, I'm working on it, and that's what motivates me, but I'll do everything in the world until I lose faith in the project."

Naturally, that doesn't take away from my unhappiness at the start of the season when I saw we were well behind McLaren. However, you then start over and find drive in new objectives, such as achieving a victory this year.

Although it's not as good as we would have liked, we are in a precarious situation, and as a driver, I have an obligation to make the most of it for both the team and myself. We have two automobiles, which motivates me to keep getting better and being at the top of my game since I'm also quite competitive. 

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No Matter How Long It Takes”: Leclerc’s Loyalty to the Scuderia

Because of its history and tifosi, Ferrari is frequently held to higher standards than any other team. This was especially true this year, as it aimed to improve on last year's runner-up result to McLaren.

Leclerc and teammate Lewis Hamilton are yet to win a grand prix, so obviously that didn't happen. However, the Monegasque acknowledged that in order to succeed, he must tune out the outside noise.

Leclerc stated, "I've been doing this since I joined the team." Since I was young and everything was new, 2019 was undoubtedly a little more challenging. There was also a lot of attention focused just on me, so it was really unique to be in red for my second year in Formula 1.

However, since then, it's crucial to take a step back and refrain from always responding to feelings and external statements.

"We are doing a good job, but not good enough, because we need to be back winning soon," I said. "I think it's very important to just stay focused and on that."

2026 Regulations and Ferrari’s Future: Leclerc’s Big Championship Hope

The 2026 campaign presents a fresh opportunity to do so given the wholesale regulation changes, with cars set to become lighter and narrower with more focus on electric energy.  Leclerc has previously expressed his skepticism about the change, but since testing the 2026 car on the simulator he has slightly changed his mind.

“The rate of improvement is very impressive,” he said. “I think for all the teams there are big big gains found every week, so since the last time I actually commented [on the regulation changes], it's definitely gone better and that is a good thing.

“I still think that it's going to be a huge change and there will be some things that I think are going to be very difficult to change. We'll just have to adapt to these new cars and also the way we will fight is going to be very tricky. “But I take that as a challenge. I'm sure that if we win I will absolutely love those regulations. If we don't then it might be four very long years [until the next change].”