‘Keep your life simple’ – Two-time champion Mika Hakkinen on why Leclerc was right to re-sign with Ferrari

Charles Leclerc extending his contract at Ferrari was met with raised eyebrows by some in the F1 paddock, but two-time champion Mika Hakkinen has voiced his support of Leclerc’s move – and for one key reason.

It was announced on Wednesday ahead of the Monaco Grand Prix that Leclerc – who’s been a Ferrari driver since 2019, and part of the Ferrari Driver Academy since 2016 before that – would be extending his stay at the Scuderia beyond the end of 2028, despite having at least 18 months left on his previous deal.

Leclerc’s statistics at Ferrari currently stand at a lopsided 27 pole positions to his eight victories, his best season statistically coming in 2022 with a distant second-place finish, 146 points behind Max Verstappen.

But speaking exclusively to F1.com ahead of a Monaco race that saw a frustrated Leclerc crash out of a podium position, two-time champion Hakkinen – who made 131 of his 161 F1 starts with McLaren – backed Leclerc’s decision to remain loyal to Ferrari.

“I think Charles is a great personality,” said Hakkinen. “He's a great racing driver, he's in a good team and going through for the future, I'm confident he can [succeed].

“But if you want to be a winner, if you want to win a World Championship, keep your life simple. Don't make it too complicated!

“What happens very often for drivers who have been with a team two, three years and there's no success, they are still in a feeling that they are the best; that the problem is not you, it's about the team.

“When the drivers start changing teams too often, you never can find the stability. People don't learn to understand who you really are, what is required, what kind of car is required for this talented driver to really perform at 100%.

“Then they start swapping different teams and nobody ever learns who you really are.”

Speaking to the media on Thursday in Monaco, Leclerc noted his “love” for Ferrari and belief in “the project”, before admitting that he’d batted away interest from other teams – and adding that Ferrari had been “one of the first people to believe in me and to help me to get to where I am today.”

But Hakkinen – who received support from McLaren after a horrendous crash at the 1995 Australian Grand Prix – played down the part loyalty would have played in Leclerc’s decision, as he compared it to his own experience.

“This is a very cruel world,” said Hakkinen. “It's a business. You need to be selfish, in one sense.

“I didn't feel, for example, after my accident, like I had to stay with McLaren… For me, it was obvious to be with McLaren.

“But Formula 1 is a calculated operation. Your management has to do the right thing. You have to trust them.”

Asked, meanwhile, whether he felt Leclerc would ever realise his dream of being a World Champion with Ferrari – in what would be the team’s first Drivers’ title since Kimi Raikkonen in 2007 – a smiling Hakkinen replied: “I'm a brand ambassador for Formula 1, but I'm also a brand ambassador for McLaren. So… I wish him all the best!

“But Charles is a great personality, a great guy. I wish he can one day be a World Champion. I think it would be great, of course, for him. He's been working very hard for years. It would be great for Monaco and of course for Ferrari.”