Formula 2 champion and Ferrari junior Charles Leclerc is set to be signed as a Sauber driver for 2018 in the coming weeks, according to a report by respected Swiss journalist Roger Benoit.
The Monegasque has been linked to the Hinwil team for several months now following his remarkable year in F2 which saw him claim the title last month in Jerez. It also comes as Ferrari seek to use Sauber as a developmental platform for their best Academy drivers after renewing their engine partnership in June.
More recently, Leclerc has been participating in Friday Practice 1 sessions with Sauber, performing solidly, and was seen with his manager Nicolas Todt in Mexico after agreeing no talks would take place until he had wrapped up the F2 title.
It now appears he will replace Pascal Wehrlein, who joined after the demise of Manor at the start of the year. As a member of the Mercedes program, though maybe not for much longer, the German was always likely to be a temporary addition at Sauber.
But his exit seems to be more due to the association with teammate Marcus Ericsson and team owners Longbow Finance, who don’t want the Swede to be dropped.
“I have no news yet on this side,” Wehrlein said on his future last weekend in Mexico. “But there are some discussions going on for next year and I hope we can fix something soon.”
The insistence on maintaining Ericsson could also see Ferrari third driver Antonio Giovinazzi miss out on a race seat, with Haas reportedly unwilling to change their line-up to accommodate the Italian in 2018.
