The wedding of the century has fizzled out, for the moment. Between Lewis Hamilton et Ferrari, the beginnings are far from the fairy tale expected between the two biggest charts in the history of the F1 : on one side, the only driver to have more than 100 victories; on the other, the most successful team, whose red crosses the boundaries of the sport.
Several factors explain this difficult start to the season: a Hamilton who needs a necessary time to adapt, and an SF-25 far from being powerful enough to compete for victory. In the midst of this disappointing start to the story, Charles Leclerc, he sees the glass half full when talking about his new teammate. The Monegasque had the privilege of being associated – and beating – Sebastian Vettel between 2019 and 2020, but here he is facing another sacred monster of F1, who brings him his experience and his working methods.
"I was expecting a lot with Lewis coming into the team. Having had so much success in F1, you kind of expect to see speed and special things in terms of driving, assures Charles Leclerc, who discovered the diabolical braking of number 44. All these things were expected, but I was still surprised by the way he brakes, for example. The way he brakes late is very, very, very impressive. In my career, I've always been the one braking later than my teammates, and it's a particular driving style that I hadn't seen from any of them, but Lewis is a cut above in that area."
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Hamilton is an inspiration for Leclerc
While Leclerc can draw inspiration from his new teammate's braking, it is above all the latter's discipline and rigor that are a source of inspiration for him. "What surprised me most, and it's one of the things I didn't expect, is his discipline. It's very impressive," greets the Monegasque.
“I remember watching him manage so many different things, and I was like, ‘This must be difficult,’ but then you look at how well organized everything is, and you understand that he’s just 200 percent focused on racing. And everything is super well organized to make sure his other projects run smoothly. That’s something I’ll use as an example, because we all have passions, we have projects outside of racing, but obviously, for all of us, the most important thing is to stay focused on racing, and Lewis is very, very impressive at that.”
Leclerc plays the role of the ideal teammate perfectly by flattering the ego of his garage neighbor, who is still struggling to find confidence and finds himself under fire from the transalpine media. In recent days, they have launched a cabal against Frédéric Vasseur, announced as leaving due to lack of convincing results. Some of our colleagues have even gone so far as to report that Lewis Hamilton could retire at the end of the season if Frédéric Vasseur is thanked… Information immediately refuted by the main parties concerned, notably the Team Principal of the Scuderia, who did not hesitate to castigate the excessive influence that the Italian media have on Ferrari.
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Yves-Henri RANDIER
22/06/2025 at 12:39 a.m.
Sir Lewis = Brakes very very late ... but Leclerc still manages to be ahead of him in qualifying very often. What's the point of flattering his teammate's ego when he's mainly his first opponent? Perhaps to avoid upsetting John Elkann who took out his mega-checkbook to attract Sir Lewis, without much success so far ... and it's quite likely that it will be like this until the end of the 2025 season which already seems to be a done deal for the Scuderia!
Lucas Paul
22/06/2025 at 09:56 a.m.
Charles, stop publishing articles where you "protect" Hamilton... First think about getting people talking about you, you're young and can do better with a good car! As for Ferrari, sad to say, but in the current context, you won't achieve what you want! Courage, and don't get too close to Hamilton, he's always "killed" his teammates......
vincent moyet
21/06/2025 at 05:29 a.m.
Hamilton's adaptation period is beginning to drag on and can no longer be an excuse. It's Ferrari that isn't adapting to him, that often complains that they aren't being listened to. Like any great champion, he raced in teams that built cars around him; he was the center of the project, and now he's just an executor who has to take the car and strategies as they are. The blame is therefore undoubtedly shared, but Ferrari apparently didn't want to sacrifice Leclerc to focus on Hamilton. A bit like Lawrence Stroll, Elkann probably thought that money was enough to create a dream team, but it's more complex than that.