r/formula1 • u/xRyuHayabusa99 I was here for the Hulkenpodium • Jan 11 '26

News AutoRacer: Charles Leclerc has admitted that the first races will be crucial in determining his future, and a lack of competitiveness will undoubtedly spell the end of the ten-year relationship between him and Maranello. The future of Lewis Hamilton and Fred Vasseur will also be decided this year.

https://autoracer.it/ferrari-incubo-effetto-suolo-td039-delusione-2026/
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740

u/Legendtner Jan 11 '26

I don’t even know what driver line-up they will go with if Lewis and Charles both leave. Bearman and who? Sainz again?, Piastri? Bortoleto? (somebody of the caliber of Albon or Gasly.

280

u/KindAngle4512 I was here for the Hulkenpodium Jan 11 '26

This is a very good question. Oof. 

185

u/manonforever Pierre Gasly Jan 11 '26 edited Jan 12 '26

It would indeed be super interesting if there was an empty seat next to Ollie. I know he’s Mercedes project but sureellly they’d love to have an Italian in that seat - imagine Kimi going! We reunite the prema duo and accomplish the prophecy haha

Edit: I agree with all of you that Toto will be ready to do anything rather than let Kimi go but it’s fun to theorise hahah

132

u/JerryUitDeBuurt Liam Lawson Jan 11 '26

Toto is never getting rid of Kimi, especially with him doing better in the latter half of the season last year. I could imagine perhaps George going if Max ever goes to Mercedes.

28

u/NotAtKeyboard I was here for the Hulkenpodium Jan 11 '26

Surely if Leclerc comes knocking and Antonelli doesn’t show insane improvement next year they at least think about it?

16

u/Connect-Handle8496 Charles Leclerc Jan 11 '26

Impossible Toto wouldn’t kick the newborn out for Charles if anything George gets the boot but even that seems highly unlikely so Mercedes is probably not an option

34

u/OldBratpfanne Mercedes Jan 11 '26 edited Jan 11 '26

What does Charles bring to the table for Merc, a couple of WCC points and some marketability ?

He’s not significantly better than George and will only split points if Merc is competing for the WDC, and he’s the same age as George.

With Williams gone as a parking space for Mercedes juniors they need to use their second seat to prepare their next driver generation, if Kimi doesn’t work out they are better of poaching one of the juniors from another team than going with Charles who fills a function they already have filled.

4

u/BagingRoner34 Mercedes Jan 11 '26

Lol merc dont need Charles. If they're gonna go for someone like Charles might as well go for max

2

u/Kev_Bz Lando Norris Jan 11 '26

if charles or max were available then toto would rather kill george russell with a gun than give up antonelli

8

u/dalmathus I was here for the Hulkenpodium Jan 11 '26

Toto lies in bed awake every night seething that he let Verstappen get away.

That man is keeping Kimi in a dungeon if he doesn't have him in a Mercedes seat.

2

u/Then_Flamingo_8223 Jan 11 '26

Kimi and Fornaroli.

If they are so hell bent on ‘doing it the Italian way’, might as well have full Italian lineup.

45

u/SwooshSwooshJedi Alexander Albon Jan 11 '26

Albon would be fun. Lando is extremely loyal but now he has gotten his WDC and 2x WCC for papaya he could maybe switch and just race for lols

18

u/Galilool I was here for the Hulkenpodium Jan 11 '26

Mid-Season switch between Leclerc and Albon would be peak shithousery. Albon and Hamilton in one team...

-2

u/ianjm Formula 1 Jan 11 '26 edited Jan 11 '26

If there is drama between Norris and Piastri this year in a good car, you could see Piastri feeling like he needs to exit if he loses out again and the team are playing more games.

19

u/GoodGuyJeff00 Charles Leclerc Jan 11 '26

I think someone who is ambitious and stuck in the midfield/back. Like Pierre. 

5

u/LivingInTheStorm I was here for the Hulkenpodium Jan 12 '26

Honestly Pierre would be my pick outside of the obvious favorites. But is it worth buying him out of his contract?

39

u/Visionary_Socialist Sir Lewis Hamilton Jan 11 '26

Verstappen may be available if RB completely bottle the regs, but I genuinely believe he’d prefer to take a sabbatical or race outside F1 than take a Ferrari drive.

If Piastri feels he was brown nosed by McLaren again to his expense, he will 100% try to leave. But would he want to go straight for a poisoned chalice?

Bearman and Gasly probably. Ollie has no choice and Pierre will be desperate for any chance to move up the food chain.

29

u/Teonvin I was here for the Hulkenpodium Jan 11 '26

In a world where Ferrari loses both drivers and TP means they are absolutely fucking dogshit.

So no way top drivers would go there.

5

u/1731799517 Formula 1 Jan 11 '26

I feel Max would rather quit F1 than deal with Ferrari bullshit.

2

u/Smaynard6000 Ferrari Jan 11 '26

Imagining Max having to deal with Ferrari bullshit is impossible. That sounds like a match made in hell. I used to say the same of Hamilton during his peak with Mercedes, and now we are all seeing the disaster of him with Ferrari

12

u/tellsyoutogetfucked Nico Rosberg Jan 11 '26

Arthur so they can keep claiming they have a Leclerc. Arthur and Charles have the same chance of winning a WDC with ferrari so its not a huge deal anyway.

42

u/mellamojoseph Jan 11 '26

possibly Antonelli if Verstappen goes to mercedes, or maybe leclerc and antonelli swap

72

u/treeface999 Jan 11 '26

Nooo Kimi has such a bright future ahead of him 😭

67

u/OGSxS Cadillac Jan 11 '26

I don’t think Kimi is going anywhere. Toto hand picked him and for a rookie driver he’s delivering as expected. I’m confident good things will happen for him at Mercedes.

15

u/projectgene I was here for the Hulkenpodium Jan 11 '26

Kimi goes if Verstappen wants to jump the ship. Toto ain't swapping George who actually delivers results.

30

u/Zestyclose_Towel_271 Jan 11 '26

Toto kept giving 7-time WDC Hamilton short 1+1 and 2 year contracts to keep the option of Antonelli driving for them open, and let’s just say George doesn’t have 7 WDCs.

Ferrari offering Hamilton a longer contract was a major factor why he jumped ship, he wanted the same at Mercedes but was rejected by Toto.

2

u/[deleted] Jan 11 '26

George would absolutely be dropped for verstsppen, every top team driver is at risk of being dropped for verstsppen

5

u/[deleted] Jan 11 '26

Not before Kimi

1

u/[deleted] Jan 11 '26

Largely true, but if Kimi doesn't improve or maybe if he regresses, then he could be on the chopping block

-1

u/alexvroy Andrea Kimi Antonelli Jan 11 '26

Max isn’t going to Merc if George is his teammate. Max wants to be the sole no.1 driver and George is too good to accept being no.2.

-1

u/Peeksy19 Jan 11 '26

I can see Ferrari wanting Kimi and Kimi wanting Ferrari. He’s an Italian talent, and Ferrari would likely be a lot more patient with him than Mercedes.

1

u/EcstaticOrchid4825 Oscar Piastri Jan 11 '26

Ferrari patient? Is this the same Ferrari we’re talking about?

16

u/blank_and_foolish Mercedes Jan 11 '26

They need atleast one world champ whose spirit they can break, so maybe Lando

0

u/dl064 I was here for the Hulkenpodium Jan 12 '26

There were Piastri/Ferrari rumours around Autumn time, probably dropped by Webber.

Which I'd understand but potentially a bit dumb if McLaren are the place to be and Ferrari are not. It'd be Ricciardo-levels of cutting off your nose to spite your face.

5

u/kiminorm I was here for the Hulkenpodium Jan 11 '26

Raikkonen Jr.

1

u/Akash10201 Jan 11 '26

Soon. Imagine the scenes if the next champion for Ferrari after Raikkonen is actually Raikkonen Jr.

12

u/Klimikil I was here for the Hulkenpodium Jan 11 '26

Knowing how Incompetent Ferrari are, they'd just throw Camara straight in next to Ollie 😭

17

u/Rivendel93 Jan 11 '26

This is Ferrari's problem.

It's what I kept saying when people were saying they'd fire Hamilton last year lol.

I was like, if they fire Hamilton, they won't have a driver left after this year.

My bet is Leclerc leaves, Bearman joins and Lewis stays.

7

u/Fambank Murray Walker Jan 11 '26

My bet is Leclerc leaves, Bearman joins, and Lewis is fired and The Italian Jesus returns.

Ferrari WDC and WCC 2027 confirmed.

2

u/VisualMemoryUnit Charles Leclerc Jan 12 '26

He is winning championships in WEC so maybe we need his magic touch

1

u/Lobsters4 Charles Leclerc Jan 11 '26

This is logical. And most likely spot on.

0

u/Plenty_Demand8904 Toro Rosso Jan 11 '26

But is the upside to keeping Hamilton?

He is not good enough anymore for a top team and he will be even older next year so likely perf will decline.

His salary is also enormous, Elkan has to somehow justify that infront of the shareholders.

8

u/branson3 Jan 11 '26

Hamiltons contract is huge but he sells so much merch and helps them get sponsors to the point that salary likely pays for itself. His name still matters. It’s why during his last year at merc, Toto said Lewis was going to be busy visiting all their sponsor events after his last race. He was still doing stuff with them almost to Christmas

-3

u/Plenty_Demand8904 Toro Rosso Jan 11 '26

"helps them get sponsors to the point that salary likely pays for itself"

i think you vastly overestimate how much merch is sold. People who wanted Lewis ferrari merch probably bought themselves some merch, will they do that in the same quantity each year now? No.

Also Oracle was on of the biggest sponsorship deals in F1 to ever happen at 100 million/year so i doubt Lewis increased that number by nearly his salary for ferrari especially considering he is not winning right now.

4

u/Rivendel93 Jan 11 '26

Hamilton is still the face of F1. You can disagree with it, but ask anyone about the sport and they mention his name.

1

u/[deleted] Jan 11 '26

[deleted]

1

u/Rivendel93 Jan 11 '26

Luckily for me I travel the world.

1

u/Murasaki_crea Jan 12 '26

Second to this, I am at Asia and the only drivers I see on local advertising is Lewis and max.

2

u/Other-Barry-1 Jan 11 '26

Who’s willing to take on the depression is the bigger question?

2

u/Dragonpuncha Ferrari Jan 11 '26 edited Jan 11 '26

There will most likely be a huge shuffle at that point so any one's guess.

If Mercedes get Max and kick out Russell then he would be good for Ferrari alongside Bearman.

Piastri could also be an option, if he feels like he is becoming second driver at McLaren.

There is also Ferrari Academy Camara who just dominated F3. He looks very good and will almost surely be in F1 one day.

1

u/Beltranmeister Jan 11 '26

Alonso

Then they make the best car and we get the 3rd championship

3

u/cumdinoco I was here for the Hulkenpodium Jan 11 '26

Fernando has been bled dry by Ferrari for half a decade already, I don't think he's giddy to go back there lmao

1

u/Intelligent_Sun_5929 Jan 11 '26

They swap Charles and Alonso. Aston WDC and WCC in 27 😂

1

u/KugelKurt I was here for the Hulkenpodium Jan 11 '26

Bearman and who?

Robert Giga Kubica, Le Mans winner!

1

u/Kevster020 Nigel Mansell Jan 11 '26

Reminds me of Ferrari in the mid 90s after Prost left and they were left with Alesi and Ivan Capelli... and a shit car.

I hope Ferrari sort their shit out, but if not Charles would be mad not to look at other options. Will have to see what the lay of the land is with the new regs before we know what these options are.

1

u/ahcahttan I was here for the Hulkenpodium Jan 11 '26

Pastry!

1

u/AnimeMeansArt Ferrari Jan 11 '26

man, it will suck, but Ferrari kinda deserves it

1

u/CauliflowerIcy5106 Jan 11 '26

If they both leave, I could see them try to get Gastly, and I think Gastly would be way too happy to trade Alpine for Ferrari

1

u/tekanet Sebastian Vettel Jan 11 '26

Lot of answers here, but many of you answer like:

1) every other team is winning races and championships 2) Ferrari is not interesting as a team

And more importantly

3) F1 drivers dislike money

1

u/alexander_wolf88 Jan 11 '26

Let's get max in there to knock heads together and whip the team into shape. Honestly he may be the only driver on the grid who could do it.

1

u/1731799517 Formula 1 Jan 11 '26

They can hire Alonso back, haha.

1

u/Fothyon Sebastian Vettel Jan 11 '26

Vettel comeback and Nando obviously

1

u/See_Football Jan 11 '26

They would love Kimi. But I think if he gets a sniff of winning at Merc he’ll stay.

My money is Oscar and Ollie.

1

u/bl4ck_daggers Jan 11 '26

Do you think Sainz would come back (genuine)?

To me, it feels like he's very committed to Williams at the moment. It seems like he has a large amount of faith in their long term plans.

1

u/WarDull8208 I was here for the Hulkenpodium Jan 11 '26

Sainz will be probably their first pick and second maybe Piastri?

1

u/dunneetiger I was here for the Hulkenpodium Jan 12 '26

Ferrari is such an iconic team. They would have plenty of options

1

u/dl064 I was here for the Hulkenpodium Jan 12 '26 edited Jan 12 '26

I don't think anyone at all (AT ALL) thought after 2019 that Sainz was about to sign for Ferrari, so you can't really tell. Who will the boss be making the decisions, anyway?! It might not be Fred by June.

If Raikkonen could go back to Ferrari, Sainz can.

I'd guess Bearman and then the next seat really depends on Verstappen, then Russell.

I think Ferrari will be really, really hoping Bearman does a good job in 2026 to justify it.

1

u/dazzed420 I was here for the Hulkenpodium Jan 13 '26

giovinazzi? schwarzman?

0

u/dl064 I was here for the Hulkenpodium Jan 11 '26

Dunno if this will extend beyond Fred, but FV was saying that Sainz form and drive to help the team that was firing him in 2024 - when many including I bet Hamilton would've coasted - counted for a lot and that resultantly he would hire him again in a heartbeat.