Izuchukwu OkosiCharles Leclerc has signed bumper a five-year contract extension to stay with Ferrari until the end of 2029, according to Italian publication, Gazzetta dello Sport.
Leclerc is at the end of his fifth season at Ferrari.
Another five years with car racing company will take him into his 11th campaign with motorsport’s most famous team, equalling Michael Schumacher’s record long Maranello tenure spanning 1996 to 2006.
According to Gazzetta, Leclerc will also double his salary in exchange for his long-term commitment, with his annual earnings set to rocket to around €50 million a year if he sees out the full term of his deal.
The new contract will reportedly come with performance clauses on Leclerc’s side that could allow him to exit the team at the end of 2027.
Both Leclerc and teammate Carlos Sainz signalled this year that they intended to secure their long-term futures at Ferrari before the start of 2024, when they would be out of contract.
Ferrari president John Elkann told an investor call for parent company Exor that he expected both “will stay of course” with the team beyond the end of their current deals.
Izuchukwu Okosi is a Nigerian sports and entertainment journalist with two decades of experience in the media industry having begun his media journey in 2002 as an intern at Mundial Sports International (MSI) and Africa Independent Television (AIT), owners of Daar Communications Plc.
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