Charles Leclerc makes 'family' statement having achieved childhood dream

Charles Leclerc insists "Ferrari is family" despite having been unable to return the Scuderia to the top of F1 since joining the team in 2019.

The Monegasque driver has won eight grands prix for the Maranello-based squad, but has fallen short of returning the Prancing Horse to championship-winning ways.

The Italian team last took a title in 2008, when it clinched the constructors' crown, and has not triumphed in the drivers' standings since Kimi Raikkonen the year before.

Leclerc, meanwhile, came up through the ranks with Ferrari, joining its young driver academy a decade ago before winning the GP3 and Formula 2 championships and ultimately reaching F1 in 2018 with Alfa Romeo-Sauber.

When the words of Sebastian Vettel, who once claimed that everyone is a Ferrari fan, were put to the 28-year-old, and he was asked what the team means to him, Leclerc reiterated his commitment to the Italian outfit.

"Ferrari is family and a team that I've always loved and dreamed of driving for since I was a kid, and this hasn't changed one bit since I joined the team in 2019," he told media, including RacingNews365. "So, the passion is still there.

"Then, of course, the will to win, and we want to win eventually, and I want to win. It's been so many years, obviously working with the team to try and come back to the top."

Ferrari has struggled in recent years, despite Leclerc looking poised for a title tilt in 2022 and the team coming close to the constructors' crown two years later.

It has put pressure on the relationship, with speculation that he could leave before his contract — which is believed to run until 2029 — ends.

Nonetheless, with the SF-26, the Scuderia looks to be the second-best package early in the current F1 season, and Leclerc remains optimistic that his time will come.

"It's been a good step forward this year; we are just not yet where we want to be, and we'll keep pushing towards that direction," he explained.

"I hope our time will come soon because, yes, it's been a long time since I started, and obviously, time has passed.

"I'm doing my best, and I hope our time will come this year or as soon as possible."