F1 News
Hamilton successful at Ferrari? 'This will be his greatest challenge'
- Ludo van Denderen
Lewis Hamilton's move to Ferrari could be seen as one last roll of the dice for the seven-time World Champion. The Brit is not making the switch from Mercedes to driving around the Formula 1 circuits anonymously. With Ferrari, Hamilton expects to have a good chance of winning an eighth world title. There is no doubt it will be a challenge.
David Coulthard sees at least one major obstacle called Charles Leclerc: "I think he will find one of his biggest challenges in Charles Leclerc," the Brit states in his podcast Formula for Success. "Charles is a young, brilliantly fast race driver. Yes, he doesn't have the World Championships and experience of Lewis, but I think he's a champion in wait. So that may well be where Lewis finds his greatest challenge."
Comparison with Hakkinen and Schumacher
Coulthard admits that it is not 100 per cent certain that Leclerc and Hamilton are - at the very least - equivalent. After all, they have never driven the same car. DC does compare with Mika Hakkinen and Michael Schumacher, past rivals of each other at McLaren and Ferrari. They have similarities to Leclerc and Hamilton now.
"Mika Hakkinen was one of the fastest guys over a single lap. And I would suggest even faster over a single lap than Michael. I can't prove that because they never were in the same car together. Where Michael was exceptional was he could do his qualifying lap 60 times."
Coulthard continued that everyone else may have a different opinion: "I think that Charles is a stunning qualifier. I think Lewis is an amazing racing driver, but at 40, I don't see him getting quicker over a single lap. By that time, Charles will be at his prime," the Brit believes.