F1: Leclerc Ferrari contract till 2024

(ANSA) - Rome, December 23 - Ferrari said Monday that they have signed a new contract with Charles Leclerc that will keep the driver at the Formula One team until the 2024 season.
    The 22-year-old from Monaco made a big impact in his debut season at Ferrari this year after joining the Italian glamour team from satellite outfit Alfa Romeo-Sauber.
    He notched his first Formula One victory in Belgium in September and followed that up by ending Ferrari's nine-year dry run at the Italian Grand Prix at Monza.
    He also outshone his team mate, Sebastian Vettel, coming fourth in the driver's championship while Germany's four-time world champion came fifth.
    "I am very happy to be staying on with Scuderia Ferrari," said Leclerc, who came through the ranks of the Ferrari Driver Academy, which he joined in 2016. "This past season, driving for the most illustrious team in Formula 1 has been a dream year for me.
    "I cannot wait to enjoy an even deeper relationship with the team after what has been an intense and exciting 2019. "I'm keen to see what the future holds and I can't wait to get going again next season".
    Ferrari Team Principal Mattia Binotto expressed satisfaction too.
    "With each passing race this year, our wish to extend our contract with Charles became ever more self-evident and the decision means he will now be with us for the next five seasons," Binotto said. "It demonstrates that Charles and the Scuderia have a firm future together.
    "Charles has been part of our family since 2016 and we are more than proud of the results we are achieving with our Academy. "We are therefore very pleased to be able to announce that he will be with us for many years to come and I'm sure that together, we will write many new pages in the history of the Prancing Horse".