Charles Leclerc is adamant that himself and his Ferrari Formula 1 team do not need to “prove anybody wrong” after criticism from Italian media ahead of last weekend’s Canadian Grand Prix.
Leading outlets in Italy suggested Frederic Vasseur’s position as Ferrari boss was under threat after a disappointing start to F1 2025, as Ferrari's only win has come in the Shanghai sprint.
The reports identified other team members too, leading to a passionate defence from Vasseur ahead of Sunday’s race.
It was still a poor race for Ferrari though, as Leclerc finished fifth with Lewis Hamilton down in sixth yet the Monegasque is not letting outside noise affect him.
“I would rather just focus on our work,” said Leclerc, who is fifth in the championship. “We're not here to try and prove anybody wrong. We're just trying to do our job the best we possibly can, and we'll be happy if we do it.
“We didn't exactly do everything right this weekend, so I'm looking forward to the next race to try and turn that situation around.”
Leclerc was still a frustrated figure through the 70-lap grand prix in Montreal, having disagreed with Ferrari’s decision to go for a two-stop strategy.
The eight-time grand prix winner only wanted to pit once, having started on the hard tyre in eighth before briefly leading at one point as he ran a much longer first stint than others.
"I’m frustrated that I didn't put everything together, but apart from that, [nothing] really affects me," said Leclerc, seemingly referencing the heated radio messages exchanged with his race engineer.
"I think the team knows where I stand and knows what I want to do. That's what matters most to me."
Vasseur also addressed Leclerc’s strategy concerns, telling reporters "I discussed it with Charles after the race".
"He's right that we have not that much to lose when you are behind the pack," Vasseur added.
"We can take some risks, but for us it was a bit too optimistic to do one stint of 50 laps with the hards in terms of tyre life. We were missing probably also some laps during the weekend to estimate it."
