F1 News

Charles Leclerc will not be merciful to Lewis Hamilton next year at Ferrari

Leclerc brutally honest about future teammate Hamilton: "You change"

10 August at 09:00
Last update 10 August at 09:08
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  • Corwin Kunst

Charles Leclerc is looking forward to taking on Lewis Hamilton at Ferrari next year. The seven-time world champion is closing the Mercedes chapter after 11 seasons and moving to Maranello. Although Leclerc has enormous respect for his new teammate, he has no intention of showing any compassion when the two inevitably come head to head.

Leclerc called it "incredible" in The Gentleman's Journal that he will be working with Hamilton, one of the drivers he 'definitely looked up to'. "First, it’s going to be a great opportunity to learn from one of the best ever,” says Leclerc. “Secondly, I think it is going to be an amazing opportunity, also, for me to be able to show what I’m capable of, so I’m really looking forward to it."

When the now 26-year-old driver made his debut with Alfa Romeo Sauber (now Stake F1) in 2018, he was still a bit in awe of Formula 1 world champions, but now, Leclerc is in a position where he can fight for that coveted world title himself. "In the first year [in F1], I remember being super-impressed and intimidated by all these amazing drivers, and Lewis is probably the best out there, so being able to race with him was crazy." The Monegasque explained.

No mercy from Leclerc

Leclerc, therefore, has no intention of showing compassion when Hamilton joins the legendary Italian team in January. “No, no, no – when I’m putting the helmet on, then there’s none of this any more. You change, you don’t think about who is who and you just go for it," he concludes.

Hamilton replaces Carlos Sainz and hopes to win his eighth world title at Ferrari. Leclerc wants that too, and the past has proven that having two top-tier drivers on one team does not always work. Hamilton knows this first-hand, after his rivalry with Nico Rosberg in 2016. Time will tell how that will work out between the aspiring champion Leclerc and the legendary Hamilton. 

This article was written in collaboration with Toby Nixon.