#when lando isn't even having the team built solely around him

[valyrfia]

shiny bald headed man is giving me hopium aaaaah pls let the car be fast pls pls pls

i do think they are managing expectations and not going into the season as contenders for the title (tbf no one is) but even if charles wins races that will be huge for 2025-26

I agree anon! From the little I've heard/seen of Fred, he seems like a pretty no nonsense guy, so if he tells me that the goal is for Ferrari to win five races, I feel fairly confident that Ferrari might win five races. I actually prefer having my expectations managed in this way, rather than trying to pretend it would take anything short of a miracle to compete with Red Bull in their current form.

That being said, if anyone can pull off a miracle, it would be Charles. I'm less confident about him winning a WDC this year, but the way that this team is being restructured from the ground up to give Charles total control and the best shot at the championship, from Arthur Leclerc becoming a development driver, to Ollie Bearman being a test driver, and Ferrari reportedly refusing to re-sign Carlos unless he takes on a clear n2 position–well I think Charles has a good shot at 2025, and an even better shot at 2026 where the regs change and there's no guarantee that Red Bull will be on top anymore.

Something interesting to note as well is Adrian Newey (the technical mastermind behind RB's current success) thinking of standing down from the F1 team at RBR, and Fred apparently poaching several RBR engineers who worked on the RB19/20. All in all, things are looking like they could swing in the favour of a Charles Leclerc WDC at some point within the lifetime of Charles's contract extension. Charles definitely made the right choice staying with Ferrari, and I don't trust anyone saying otherwise.