Charles Leclerc opens up about 'absolutely untrue' rumors claiming talks with Ferrari president

Charles Leclerc recently refuted rumors of him arranging a meeting with Ferrari president John Elkann to address the team's current predicament.

Several rumors have been making the rounds claiming that the Italian team was going through some internal issues after the Bahrain GP. However, according to crash.net, Leclerc said that 90% of them were untrue.

The Monegasque driver also confirmed that he did not plan to have a meeting with the Scuderia president. He stated that he does not want to waste his energy on these rumors and simply wants to focus on his team and the next race. He said:

“This is absolutely untrue. There have been loads of rumours around the team. For once, 90 percent of them were completely unfounded. I don’t know where it is coming from and, to be honest, I don’t want to even spend any energy on trying to find where it’s coming from. We just need to be on it and focus on ourselves.”

Leclerc admitted that he was slightly concerned about how his team would react to all the rumors. However, when he met with the entire team in Maranello, he was "really surprised" to see that everyone was positive. He added:

“Honestly I obviously saw these rumors and then went to Maranello. At first I was like I’m not sure how the team will react to it. But then we’ve had a meeting with the whole team, with all the Ferrari employees. I was really surprised. Everyone is fully on it and fully positive, which is great. We all need to push in the same direction as I said, this is the most important.”

Only time will tell what will happen in and around Ferrari as the 2023 F1 season progresses.

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Ferrari team boss claims that Charles Leclerc is not 'demotivated' after grid penalty ahead of Saudi Arabian GP

Frederic Vasseur recently spoke about Charles Leclerc receiving a 10-place grid penalty ahead of the 2023 F1 Saudi Arabian GP. This came as a result of Ferrari exhausting both the control units (ECUs) fitted in Leclerc's car at the Bahrain GP.

Although this is a massive blow for Leclerc, the Ferrari team boss claims that the setback will not stop the Monegasque from pushing forward. He said (via RacingNews365.com):

"It's [Jeddah penalty] not good news, but it's also not the end of the season. Let's see what happens in Jeddah and what could be the outcome of the event even with the penalty. But I don't imagine for a second he [Charles Leclerc] could be demotivated for something like this. He's pretty convinced, he's working with us, pushing the team, pushing everybody in a positive way."

Charles Leclerc needs to perform exceptionally well in Saudi Arabian GP qualifying to have a chance of finishing near the top of the grid. The best position he can start the race in is P10.