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Charles Leclerc has been tipped for a logical swap to Aston Martin should Lance Stroll not lift his game in the foreseeable future. That's the view of former F1 racer Ralf Schumacher. The young driver's current contract runs until the end of next season, and he has shown a level of reluctance to sign an extension.
Not only that, but the Ferrari driver has been linked with Mercedes far too often this season as Lewis Hamilton's contract extension continues to get delayed. In all of this, Ralf Schumacher believes that there is a logical swap that could open up Aston Martin.
According to the German F1 pundit, if Lance Stroll is unable to match the pre-season targets set for him, then Aston Martin could look at Charles Leclerc as a possible option.
Ralf told Sky Germany:
“So far, there have only been Mercedes and Red Bull as potential options. Mercedes is not quite as current at the moment, and it’s safe to assume that Hamilton will continue there. But I believe a strong candidate is also Aston Martin, as they also need to look around."
He added:
"Fernando Alonso will have another year after that. Who knows, [Lawrence Stroll’s] son doesn’t fulfil the season goals, they may need to bring in another strong driver for the future, building alongside Fernando Alonso. Accordingly, that would be a logical possibility for Charles Leclerc, also considering the Honda partnership eventually.”
Charles Leclerc continues to deny rumors of him leaving Ferrari
Charles Leclerc, for his part, has always denied rumors of him leaving Ferrari and joining Mercedes or any other rival. Earlier in the season, the young driver was questioned about his future and whether he'd had any contact with other teams, which he denied.
He said:
“It has always been a dream for me to be in this team and my main priority is to win a world championship with this team. So it’s not something in my mind. I’m fully committed to Ferrari and I love Ferrari. There have been] zero [talks with Toto Wolff.] Zero. Really zero. You all smile because you don’t believe me, but I promise.”
The argument that Lawrence Stroll replaced his son for another driver at Aston Martin might look good in theory but hold little to no weight in reality.
The very existence of the F1 team is to give Lance a better car, and once that is achieved, there's no point in replacing him with someone else.
