Leclerc Defends His Lead Role In Ferrari Despite Hamilton’s Arrival

Thursday, 18 July 2024 at 12:13

Updated at Thursday, 18 July 2024 at 12:47

Charles Leclerc addressed doubts about his position in Scuderia Ferrari amid the signing of the seven-time World Champion Lewis Hamilton.

In 2025, Charles Leclerc's current teammate, Carlos Sainz, will be replaced by Lewis Hamilton, who decided to leave Mercedes at the end of this season.

The Monegasque driver is well established within the Italian team, having been with them since his second season in Formula One—2019 (it's now his sixth season with the team).

For a long time, he was considered the main driver in whom Ferrari placed their hopes and with whom they wanted to win the Championship title.

However, the signing of the seven-time World Champion might suggest that Ferrari lost confidence in Leclerc and decided to bet on a different driver. Does the 26-year-old see it that way? As quoted by BBC, he said:

"Not at all. Because Ferrari is Ferrari. And they need the best drivers in their cars. So, for the benefit of Ferrari, it is completely understandable. For me, I don't see any negative in that, because it's Lewis Hamilton."

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Leclerc has faced four-time World Champion Sebastian Vettel in the past and outperformed him during both seasons they spent together. Does he have confidence that he can beat Hamilton as well?

"Well. I need to be convinced that I am the fastest driver when I put the helmet on, but I am really looking forward to it, and it will be super-interesting for me."

Drivers tend to look at each others' onboard recordings and other available data to learn what they might be missing. Leclerc looks forward to driving alongside the seven-time Champ as he suggests he has no weaknesses.

"I have always said you learn from every single team-mate you have over your career. When I look at the way he drives - because we always look at each other and data - you don't really see any weaknesses. And that's where Lewis is incredible. He's only got strengths."

"So I'm really looking forward to seeing how he works with his engineers, the feedback, and all of these kinds of things, to learn and become better."