Portugal Colonial - Leclerc rejected rival offers to stick with Ferrari

Speaking to reporters on Thursday ahead of his home Monaco Grand Prix, the 28-year-old Monegasque local hero declined to reveal who had sought his signature, but made clear that he was happy to have a multi-year contract to stay.

"It's very clear to me," he said. "I love this team and I think that is pretty obvious from the outside. It's been eight years with the F1 team for me and 10 years in all with Ferrari. They were the first to believe in me and helped me get where I am.

"I believe in the project and I think that with Fred, who I have a very good relationship with, we have the person to bring Ferrari back to the top."

Of rival offers, he said: "I'm not going to say who. They can say if they want. But, for me, Ferrari was always the choice... Winning in red, for me, has got a very unique feeling and it is something that I have dedicated all these years to."

Leclerc added that he was expecting Ferrari to deliver more upgrades for their car after a "good start to the season" and suggested that the team had clear developments in mind for their power unit, which has been competitively inferior to Mercedes this season.

"It's obviously not been as good as we want, so far, because we want to target the world championship, but there has been a lot of innovation on the car -– and we know what we are lacking, more on the engine side."

- 'It works for me' -

Looking ahead to this weekend, he was optimistic and said that he would continue to use the Ferrari simulator to prepare his set-up for the race, in contrast to "old-school" teammate Lewis Hamilton.

"For me, the simulator has been working very well," he said. "This is what I've done since arriving in F1 and I'm not going to change that.

"It's been a very powerful tool for me in the past and, very often, we make changes based on what we try on the simulator. It works for me, so I'll keep going there."

Seven-time champion Hamilton had rejected the simulator ahead of the Chinese and Canadian Grands Prix this season and gained his best results, a first podium for Ferrari and then second place in Montreal.

Leclerc won his home race in 2004 and is expected to be a contender to win on Sunday. He is third in the drivers' championship, ahead of Hamilton, but adrift of the dominant Mercedes drivers Kimi Antonelli and George Russell.

Italian teenager Antonelli, who has won the last four races, has 131 points and Russell, winner of the season-opening Australian race, 88.

"It there is one track that I would bet on for us, it's probably Monaco," said Leclerc. "But I still believe Mercedes have a significant advantage and will be very, very strong."

E.Borba--PC