Charles Leclerc makes other options admission after fresh Ferrari deal

Charles Leclerc has revealed there were other options on the table when he put pen to paper on his new Ferrari deal.

The Monegasque driver re-upped with the Scuderia on improved terms, with his salary believed to have skyrocketed from €34 million to €50 million.

However, it is unclear if it is also a contract extension, having already been locked in with the Italian team until the end of 2028 at the earliest.

Whilst the eight-time grand prix winner insisted it was only ever going to be Ferrari that he committed his future in F1 to, given his love for the team and the faith they showed in him early in his career, he did acknowledge that other parties were vying for his signature.

"There were, yes," Leclerc confirmed to media, including RacingNews365, when asked if he had alternatives to re-signing with the Prancing Horse.

The 28-year-old has been linked with a move away from the Maranello-based squad before, having raced for the team since his second season in F1, in 2019.

And with Ferrari mired in a championship drought lasting nearly two decades, the consensus in the F1 paddock is that the Scuderia has rarely produced a car capable of his talents over the past eight years.

Despite that, Leclerc is adamant that the Fred Vasseur-led outfit was "always the choice" for him.

Although his eyes never strayed, he refused to get drawn into the identities of those competing teams, adding: "No, I'm not going to say who.

"They can say if they want, but for me, Ferrari was always the choice."