The start of Lewis Hamilton’s Ferrari career has been dubbed an “extended coronation as king of Ferrari”.

That assessment comes from Sky F1’s Craig Slater, though while Ted Kravitz says there is the element of the “unknown” with Hamilton for new team-mate Charles Leclerc, he is not about to open the door for Hamilton by “underestimating” him.

Leclerc ‘knows not to underestimate Lewis Hamilton’

The F1 2025 season-opener is moving clearly into view, with the Australian Grand Prix on March 16 kicking-off a season which holds the potential to be an all-time classic.

One of the biggest storylines going into the new campaign is Hamilton and his blockbuster switch to Ferrari, as he continues his search for a record-breaking eighth World title.

However, the dominant belief in the F1 paddock is that McLaren will descend on Albert Park as the strongest team, and after PlanetF1.com’s resident data expert Pablo Hidalgo crunched the numbers, McLaren indeed came out looking strong in race mode.

Looking ahead to the first race of F1 2025, while McLaren’s Lando Norris will look to make a winning start to a year where he is seen as the title favourite, Sky F1’s pit-lane reporter Ted Kravitz pointed out that Norris’ team-mate Oscar Piastri “looks to be in great shape” and will be “well motivated” on home soil.

“But, don’t count out Lewis Hamilton,” Kravitz pivoted.

“He knows how to race around Albert Park. That’s the crucial thing. You don’t need to be on pole position around the Australian Grand Prix circuit to win the race.

“Hamilton showed it in his very first race there in 2007. You can come around the outside at Turn 1. He overtook his team-mate Fernando Alonso at that race in the McLaren.

“There’s no saying, even if he doesn’t have the greatest of qualifying, that Hamilton can’t win the Australian Grand Prix.”

One-lap pace was of particular concern in Hamilton’s final season with Mercedes, as he suffered a 19-5 defeat to then team-mate George Russell in the qualifying head-to-head.

Hamilton therefore has doubters to silence as he embarks on this fresh career chapter with Ferrari.

But there, he goes up against Leclerc, to this point the poster boy of Ferrari having risen through their junior ranks to F1 stardom, as the team chase a first F1 title since 2008.

“How is Charles Leclerc dealing with what feels like an extended coronation of Lewis Hamilton as king of Maranello, of Ferrari?” Slater would ask Kravitz.

“Do you think there is confusion in his mind as to exactly what he faces with Hamilton as his team-mate?”

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Kravitz is confident Leclerc knows not to underestimate the kind of challenge he faces.

“There is an unknown,” Kravitz replied, “obviously, Charles Leclerc has seen Lewis Hamilton close up over the last couple of months.

“He’s understood how he likes to drive the car. He’s understood seemingly how Hamilton, who was saying that he still has to learn exactly how every little tool that he has at his disposal, in terms of differential change or brake balance adjustment, or how to start the car on the clutch, things like that, but it’s second nature to Leclerc, but Hamilton is still learning how Ferrari like to do those things in the car and the multitude of buttons they’ve got.

“If you could say that’s a bit of an advantage on Leclerc’s side, maybe, but also Leclerc would underestimate Hamilton’s racecraft at his peril. He knows not to underestimate Lewis.

“Lewis is at his best on a Sunday afternoon or a Sunday morning, as it’s going to be for us for the Australian Grand Prix. So Leclerc is waiting to see what kind of team-mate he’s going to have in Australia.”

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