Charles Leclerc and Lewis Hamilton are officially teammates. Ferrari welcomed their new signing via their social media channels on New Year’s Day.
All signs suggest the relationship between the two will be harmonious, even if the burden of competition may take its toll. Leclerc and Hamilton have both been driving frontrunning cars since 2019, and they’ve rarely clashed.
Their battle during the Qatar GP Sprint last November highlighted the mutual respect between the two. Leclerc wrestled his way past Hamilton for fifth place after a masterful wheel-to-wheel scrap spanning multiple corners.
There has been evident warmth in their interactions thus far. Leclerc shares mutual interests with Hamilton outside of racing, including music and fashion.
Though there has been occasional tension with Ferrari, Carlos Sainz left with Leclerc’s best wishes. Likewise, there was never any lasting ill-feeling with Sebastian Vettel.
George Russell also issued a heartfelt farewell to Hamilton after their three years together at Mercedes. After the rancour with Nico Rosberg, he also enjoyed five peaceful seasons alongside Valtteri Bottas.
Charles Leclerc ‘led’ complaints to FIA race director after Max Verstappen defending at 2021 Brazil GP
Leclerc and Hamilton seem to be aligned on racing standards in F1. This was evident following the 2021 Sao Paulo GP, round 19 of 22.
Hamilton won the race in a rousing charge from 10th place, cutting Max Verstappen’s championship lead. But that was only after Verstappen made a highly controversial move to defend first place.
The Mercedes driver tried to pass around the outside on the run to turn four, but Verstappen appeared to lunge down the inside. Both cars ended up straying deep into the run-off area.
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Verstappen escaped a penalty, which the other 19 drivers deemed unjust. Speaking on the Chequered Flag podcast in autumn 2024, BBC Sport’s Andrew Benson revealed that Leclerc led the protests.
Together with Sainz, he was most vocal in criticising the stewards’ decision at the next race in Qatar. As is routine, he met with his fellow drivers and the then FIA race director Michael Masi.
“Brazil 21 – all the drivers felt he should have got a penalty,” Benson said of Verstappen. “There was a meeting in Qatar the following race, which was basically led by Leclerc and Carlos Sainz, his Ferrari teammate, where they made that clear. They felt that that should have been a penalty.”
Lewis Hamilton may have negotiated key Charles Leclerc clause into Ferrari contract
Hamilton arrives at a Ferrari team that Leclerc has made his own. This will be his seventh season with the Scuderia, and his third different teammate.
Leclerc effectively drove out Vettel after Ferrari promoted him to offer a benchmark for the four-time world champion. They already suspected he wasn’t as quick as Hamilton.
Understandably given the pedigree of both drivers, there will be no clear number one next year. One pundit reckons Hamilton may have negotiated a parity clause in his Ferrari contract, preventing Frederic Vasseur from issuing team orders.
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