Sauber rookie Charles Leclerc has said that he "only thinks about winning" ahead of his high-profile switch to Ferrari next season, as he'll partner up with Sebastian Vettel in Kimi Raikkonen's place.
There were rumours of it happening for months, but we don't think that many people actually thought that Leclerc would sign at Ferrari already so early in his F1 career. He'll have just one season of experience before making the switch to the Italian team, but what a season it has been for him.
He's repeatedly shown that he squeeze every single grain of performance out of his Sauber, leaving teammate Marcus Ericsson miles behind in many qualifying rounds. As a Ferrari academy driver, the team decided to snap him up and replace the aging Raikkonen for him, with the Finn going back to Sauber, his first team when originally joining F1.
Leclerc explained his intentions at Ferrari in a recent interview with Gazzetta dello Sport.
"I go to Ferrari to win immediately," the 21-year-old explained.
"I want to clarify that some newspaper titles I did not like, because they did not understand the spirit of my statement and they called me arrogant, in fact.
"As a driver, I think it is fair to say that I do not go to Ferrari to aim for fourth place.
"That's not what I want to do: I always think about winning.
"I know it's a very ambitious goal, but that's how you get the best results.
"I do not consider it arrogance, it is only my strong will to do good at all costs: it is determination."
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