Leclerc: I would love to try MotoGP, but I’m not sure Ferrari agrees

Following the recent trend of Formula 1 and MotoGP stars swapping jobs, Charles Leclerc says he “would love to try MotoGP, but I am not sure Ferrari agrees” while he’d also be eager to give rallying a go.

The Monegasque driver says he’s a keen follower of MotoGP and would be open to the opportunity to ride a Grand Prix motorcycle but accepts it remains unlikely due to his Ferrari contractual obligations.

Over the past two years numerous high profile F1-MotoGP switches have taken place through the backing of a mutual sponsor along with the blessing of the respective teams involved.

As part of a Red Bull athlete event in 2018, Repsol Honda riders Marc Marquez and Dani Pedrosa tried out a Toro Rosso F1 car at the Red Bull Ring while most recently Lewis Hamilton and Valentino Rossi swapped rides at an event hosted by mutual sponsor Monster Energy. Jorge Lorenzo has also driven a Mercedes F1 car during a Monster-backed promotion.

Leclerc admits his ambition to try out a MotoGP bike is currently thwarted by his Ferrari contract. The 22-year-old recently signed a new deal at the Scuderia keeping him at the team until 2024.

F1 drivers often have clauses within their contract which ban them from high-risk activities which could cause injury - but that didn’t stop Leclerc from going skydiving during the off-season without telling Ferrari.

“I would love to try MotoGP, but I am not sure Ferrari agrees. I need to ask but I would love to. Bikes, I love bikes in general, but I am not sure if Ferrari agrees for me to try a MotoGP bike,” Leclerc said during a fan Q&A at the Autosport International show.

Looking further afield, Leclerc says he’d also like to try rallying having grown up close to the iconic Rallye Monte Carlo which hosts the World Rally Championship opening round.

Mercedes permits Valtteri Bottas to race at selected rallying events during the F1 off-season, while Robert Kubica suffered life-threatening injuries in a rallying crash back in 2011.

“To be completely honest I am obsessed with Formula 1 so in the off-season I would like to have more races in Formula 1, but if I had to choose probably rally is something I would like to experience one day,” he said.

“It is quite different to what I am used to going around in circles from the morning to the afternoon so probably rally is something exciting that I would like to try.”

Leclerc’s MotoGP and rallying ambitions might be shelved for now, but an opportunity could be opened to try out MotoGP through Ferrari and Ducati mutual sponsor Philip Morris International. Both teams run the sponsor’s Mission Winnow campagin as its title sponsor.