Lewis Hamilton’s arrival at Ferrari should be a welcome shake-up for the Italian manufacturer chasing their first Formula 1 title in 17 years.
He joins at a time where the team missed out on winning the constructors’ championship by just 14 points last season.
Hamilton’s arrival brings experience and speed in abundance. It may be the extra winning edge that Ferrari needed all along.
It’s also a great opportunity for Charles Leclerc to prove himself against one of the greatest of all time. The more he can pick up, the better he will be.
Hamilton and Leclerc can ‘exploit’ Ferrari’s 2025 car after they made a raft of changes over the winter in an attempt to bring extra pace to their machine.
Leclerc lost some confidence in the Ferrari at testing after struggling with tyre wear, but it may have just been down to the nature of the Bahrain circuit.
READ MORE: Ferrari have ‘devalued’ one of Charles Leclerc’s greatest strengths with 2025 Formula 1 car
Frederic Vasseur says Lewis Hamilton’s arrival has removed ‘pressure’ from Charles Leclerc at Ferrari
This year’s season-opener will be the Australian Grand Prix for the first time since 2019. It was changed due to Covid-19 but has finally made a comeback.
It’s an event that Ferrari won last year with Carlos Sainz after Max Verstappen’s first mechanical retirement in two years.
Hitting the ground running is a key aim of the team, who want to win the first race. It may be possible after team boss Fred Vasseur noticed a positive change in Leclerc.
“From day one I was convinced that Charles would benefit greatly from the arrival of Lewis. Maybe it will take some of the pressure off him and he can focus more on himself. That’s good,” he told La Gazzetta dello Sport.
“He can also learn a lot because Hamilton is a great professional and you can always learn something from those next to you. After three or four years with Carlos, having a new teammate is really the best way to grow.”
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Ralf Schumacher points out Lewis Hamilton disadvantage to Charles Leclerc at testing
The obvious upper-hand Leclerc has over Hamilton currently is that he has already been with the Scuderia for six seasons. He knows the place and team inside out.
It’s going to take some time for the Brit to adjust to, as he learns a new language and the names of everyone around him.
Ralf Schumacher says Hamilton has a disadvantage over Leclerc and believes that the seven-time champion is already struggling to cope with a nervous rear-end.
He needs to integrate with the car well soon or he risks a similar defeat to what he experienced at Mercedes against George Russell.
Qualifying has been his weakness recently and he’s up against one of the best over one lap in 2025. It’s going to be a fascinating battle
