From Aston Martin to Audi – Four teams that could sign Charles Leclerc if he leaves Ferrari in 2027
- Henry Eccles
- Jan 7
- 9 min read
Following a disastrous 2025 campaign for Ferrari, in which they failed to win a Grand Prix for the first time in four years, Charles Leclerc has warned that 2026 will be a “now or never” season for his dream of winning a world title with the Scuderia.
Despite comprehensively beating his teammate Lewis Hamilton – securing seven podiums to Hamilton’s zero and finishing 86 points ahead – the Monegasque driver was not satisfied with P5 in the Drivers’ standings, and fuelled speculation that he could look elsewhere should Ferrari’s struggles extend into the first part of 2026.
With that in mind, Purple Sector Three takes a look at four possible options for Leclerc should he decide to call time on his Ferrari career in 2027.
Most likely: Aston Martin
Charles Leclerc talks with Fernando Alonso at the 2023 Spanish GP - Getty Images
Powered by Honda, headed by new Team Principal Adrian Newey, and improving an already state-of-the-art Silverstone base, Aston Martin are widely tipped to be the grid’s biggest improvers in 2026.
This year, the team in green will again rely on the services of Fernando Alonso and Lance Stroll, but with it very possibly being the 44-year-old Alonso’s last season in F1, Aston could be on the lookout for one of the sport’s biggest names.
One of those is most certainly Leclerc, multiple reports linking him to Aston Martin began to emerge in late November – just after Ferrari Chairman John Elkann’s controversial comments telling Leclerc and Hamilton to “talk less and focus more on driving” off the back of a difficult Brazil GP.
With just two rounds of the F1 season to go, Italian journalist Leo Turrini delivered the bombshell claim that Aston Martin were in regular contact with Leclerc’s manager Nicholas Todt, son of former Ferrari Team Principal and FIA President, Jean.
In his ‘Profundo Russo’ column for Quotidiano Nazionale, Turrini wrote: “It comes as no surprise that Nicolas Todt has been repeatedly contacted by Aston Martin executives in recent times… a good agent has a duty, not just a right, to evaluate every option in the interests of his team."
If Leclerc did leave Ferrari in 2027, a reformed Aston Martin would be a tempting proposition, heading into a revolutionary regulation change under legendary aerodynamicist Newey and Honda as the engine supplier – a partnership that delivered a total of six world championships at Red Bull.
Aston Martin announce the arrival of Adrian Newey - Getty Images
Speaking of Red Bull, that is where Leclerc’s move to Aston may find its biggest obstacle: Max Verstappen.
Reports linking the Silverstone team to the four-time world champion persisted throughout 2025, kicked off by the Daily Mail’s claim in January that the Dutchman had been offered a deal worth £1 billion to reunite with Newey and Honda.
In August, the 28-year-old confirmed he will remain a Red Bull driver for this season, but the general consensus in the paddock is that if the Austrian outfit can’t supply a title-contending car, he will look elsewhere.
The good news for Leclerc’s potential move to Aston is that Mercedes, backed by many to be the frontrunners in 2026, would likely be ahead in the queue for Verstappen.
Not signing a teenage Max in 2014 has long been a regret for Team Principal Toto Wolff, who has a good relationship with his father Jos, and entered talks with the Dutchman in the summer. Ultimately to no avail, but a faltering Red Bull and resurgent Mercedes in 2026 would almost certainly put those discussions back on the agenda.
While Verstappen’s future would undoubtedly influence Leclerc’s, both the latter’s talent and hunger for world titles are too high to label him as a mere alternative, showcased by his efforts to drag the tricky SF-25 to seven podiums in 2025.
Sky Sports’ Ted Kravitz reflected on Lecerc’s season: “He’s been brilliant this year, hasn’t he? I think he’s made my top five [drivers of 2025]. He’s been great. He’s ready to win a championship like [George] Russell.
“Where is he going to go? Potentially, maybe if Aston Martin with a Newey car and a Honda engine in a couple of years does do well and doesn’t get Verstappen, then I would put Leclerc in there.”
Possible: Red Bull
Charles Leclerc and Max Verstappen at the 2025 Mexico City GP - Getty Images
With Leclerc’s future likely to be tied to Verstappen’s in 2027, of course if the Dutchman left Red Bull, the Monegasque would be in a prime position to take his place.
And according to F1 journalist Tom Clarkson, that would be an opportunity that Team Principal Laurent Mekies would seriously consider.
Debating the Driver of the Day for the Abu Dhabi GP, in which Leclerc finished an impressive P4, Clarkson told Jolyon Palmer and James Hinchcliffe on the F1 Nation podcast why he thought Leclerc was the standout performer.
“I love what that guy does in that Ferrari,” Clarkson said. “He’s just been phenomenal. Just look at the difference between him and Lewis Hamilton at the moment, it’s extraordinary.
“If Max leaves, I think Laurent Mekies will be on the telephone to Charles Leclerc very quickly.
“Of course, they worked together, didn’t they, at Ferrari back in the day. But Charles has been excellent, he drags one lap out of that car and then quite what they did overnight between qualifying and the race, how that car came alive in that 58 lap Grand Prix and Charles maximised it, so well done to him.”
Charles Leclerc in his Ferrari SF-25 at the 2025 Abu Dhabi GP - Getty Images
While Leclerc to Red Bull seems the obvious move to make in the eventuality of a Verstappen departure, far too many questions are to be answered before we can say it is likely to happen.
Firstly, and most importantly, why would Verstappen have left?
The answer there would probably be to do with performance – yes, Red Bull have reportedly found an important loophole in the 2026 engine regulations, but it is still their first season under their powertrain partnership with Ford, competing at the very top consistently from the start would surely be too tough a task.
So, in that case, would Leclerc leave a struggling Ferrari to join a struggling Red Bull? It is hard to see that happening.
What is equally murky at Red Bull right now is who is making the big decisions. The sheer amount of quality personnel the team have lost is startling. As well as Horner and Newey, Helmut Marko, Jonathan Wheatley, Rob Marshall, and Will Courtenay are the big names to have departed within the last two seasons.
Christian Horner, Max Verstappen, Adrian Newey and Helmut Marko at the 2023 Dutch GP - Getty Images
In that time, the Austrian influence on the F1 operation, headed up by Oliver Mintzlaff at Red Bull GmbH, has steadily grown, with the aim of integrating the team even more closely into the energy drinks manufacturer’s corporate structure.
On that, Red Bull’s global sporting philosophy is to promote from within - as seen in its frequent movement of academy graduate drivers from sister team Racing Bulls to the senior team, or even its multi-club model in football – so would hiring Leclerc really fit into that vision?
Before Sergio Perez’ arrival in 2021, you would have to go all the way back to 2007 for the last time Red Bull hired a driver (Mark Webber) that had not been part of its junior driver program, when the team itself was just two years old.
Still, even if the latest Racing Bulls graduate, Isack Hadjar, impresses alongside Verstappen in 2026, Leclerc would surely be joining a Red Bull team to be built around him, a tempting scenario and one that cannot be entirely ruled out for 2027’s silly season.
Possible: McLaren
A victorious Charles Leclerc on the top step at Monza 2024, next to Oscar Piastri (P2) and Lando Norris (P3)
This is where things start to get really interesting.
While a move for Leclerc to Aston Martin or Red Bull likely hinges on what happens to Verstappen, there is another driver whose future could also impact the Monegasque: McLaren’s Oscar Piastri.
The Aussie driver has only been at McLaren for three seasons, but will be desperate to get his own back against teammate Lando Norris after narrowly losing out on the Drivers’ title to the Briton in 2025.
Piastri was in the lead of the championship for most of the season, but a brutal drop-off towards the end of year saw Norris claw back a 36-point gap and eventually win the title at the season finale in Abu Dhabi by 13 points.
That drop-off could be attributed to a number of things - Norris’ brilliance, pressure from Verstappen, or a weakness on low-grip tracks like Austin or Mexico City – but Piastri has hinted that the controversial team order at Monza, where he was told to yield P2 after a slow pit stop for Norris, was a turning point.
Since the season finale, rumours have swirled that Piastri and his camp could be looking for a way out of McLaren at the end of 2026. On the Inside the Piranha Club podcast, journalists Rebecca Clancy and Ben Hunt discussed the suggestion that Piastri’s team, led by Mark Webber of all people, had been reaching out to Red Bull during the final race weekend of the season.
Clancy said: “Piastri’s contract is thought to [run to] the end of 2028; however, there were a lot of rumours in the paddock over the weekend that Piastri was looking to join Red Bull from 2027. How would that work?”
“Well, it could definitely work,” Hunt replied. “Who knows what’s going to happen next year with regards to Ford’s progress, whether Verstappen has enough, whether he wants to go somewhere else?
“I’m sure conversations have happened with regard to the parties, and 'what if'. You wouldn’t be a Formula 1 manager doing your business if you weren’t checking on people’s availability, so it’s entirely plausible that that could happen.”
Oscar Piastri and his manager Mark Webber at the 2025 Abu Dhabi GP
So, what would McLaren do?
Well, they could do the simple thing and promote 2025 F2 world champion Leanardo Fornaroli, who took a Test and Development role at the end of the year as part of McLaren’s Driver Development programme.
Or they could go full-on with their exciting ‘Papaya Rules’ of racing, pair Norris up with Leclerc, and see who comes out on top.
While Verstappen’s future is again very much in the picture here, multiple reports have also raised the possibility of a driver swap that would see Piastri join Ferrari and Leclerc go the other way – F1 Insider claimed such a deal is “conceivable” even if Red Bull continue to keep tabs on Piastri via their connections with former driver Webber.
If McLaren get a good handle on the 2026 regulations, their driver lineup would remain scary just how it is, but with both Leclerc and Norris fighting for the world championship, it is hard to see how the Woking team would be stopped from another Driver and Constructors' title sweep.
Wildcard: Audi
Drivers Nico Hülkenberg and Gabriel Bortoleto lead the Audi R26 concept unveiling in Munich, Germany - Getty Images
If Leclerc did leave Ferrari, Audi is not currently one of his most likely destinations, but that does not mean the team taking over Sauber in 2026 should be discarded just yet as an option.
Audi have won almost everything there is to win in motorsport and have equally lofty ambitions as they enter F1 for the first time ever this year. The Neuberg-based outfit want to become title contenders within just five seasons, aiming to secure a world championship by 2030.
By then, Leclerc will be 32, which some would argue is far too long for a driver of his talents to wait until his first sustained title bid, but if Audi deliver on their promised roadmap in the same vein with which they have attacked other forms of motorsport, it could end up being a no-brainer move.
To match those ambitions, Audi might be looking to make an exciting driver move after their first year in F1, with the most likely scenario being that then 39-year-old Nico Hulkenberg moves on and is replaced by a big name who will compete with Brazilian talent Gabriel Bortoleto.
The Audi R26 concept car, a preview of the German team's first ever F1 challenger for 2026 - Getty Images
But there he is again, that Max Verstappen, who Audi Team Principal Jonathan Wheatley name-dropped at the team’s F1 car concept unveiling in November when asked by De Telegraaf whether the four-time world champion would fit into his long-term vision.
“Yes, I want Max Verstappen to drive our car,” said Wheatley, who was Red Bull’s Sporting Director for all of the Dutchman’s title wins. “What kind of team principal would I be if I didn't want that?”
While links between Audi and Leclerc are yet to have materialised, the interest in Verstappen speaks to the German manufacturer’s ambition to one day secure the services of F1’s very best, a driver bracket to which the Ferrari driver most certainly belongs.
And do not be surprised if Audi become a tempting proposition for the likes of Leclerc, having had successful campaigns with innovative hybrid engines, like the power units being introduced in 2026, at the 24 hours of Le Mans and Dakar Rally in the past.
One possible obstacle for a Leclerc-Audi move, however, could be the presence of former Ferrari Team Principal Mattia Binotto, now the head of Audi’s F1 project, who has served as Chief Operating and Chief Technical Officer at Sauber since 2024.
Charles Leclerc and former Ferrari Team Principal talk in the garage at the 2019 Australian GP - Getty Images
The relationship between Leclerc and Binotto soured over a series of strategy errors and car development issues during the 2022 season.
Leclerc did comment on Binotto’s move to Sauber, saying there are “lots of things” he can bring to his former team thanks to his experiences at Ferrari, but whether or not the 28-year-old would be open to a reunion remains to be seen – only adding to the view that Audi is only a wildcard 2027 option for him at this moment in time.
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