Leclerc has edge on Hamilton according their Former Chief
F1 News
There's one narrative to the F1 2025 season that is particularly enticing, and which has F1 fans and experts alike aching for it to unfold: Who will win the duel at Ferrari, Charles Leclerc or Lewis Hamilton? Their former chief in the junior series, Guillaume Capietto, compares both drivers ahead of their highly anticipated battle.
Capietto worked alongside Hamilton at ART during the seven-time world champion's stint in F3 Euroseries and GP2, and the Frenchman remembers the Briton as relying too much on feeling and not being as technical at the time, stating that was a point of focus during the off season in the winter ahead of Hamilton's F3 championship winning season in 2005, while also complimenting the Briton on his car control abilities, looking back on his performances in mixed conditions claiming "sometimes he was like one second in front of everybody at the beginning of the session," as quoted by Motorsport.com.
In Leclerc's case, the Frenchman worked with the Monegasque at Prema Racing when won his F2 title prior to his F1 promotion with Sauber, and states that the now seasoned Ferrari driver was slightly more experienced than Hamilton at that point in their junior careers, adding that Prema had a pace advantage over its rivals which made things a bit 'easier' for Leclerc's 2017 title charge. Then Capietto was asked how the two would match up against each other.
Does Leclerc have an edge on Hamilton?
"It was some years in between, so it's always difficult to compare guys," said a cautious Capietto. "But I think they are both talented, of course. Both have quite good car control and are able when the conditions are mixed or damp, etc, to handle that."
"And I think Charles was coming already more with all the things like I said before – the driving maps, the driving reference and how to drive the car theoretically," pointing out Leclerc's technical advantage at the time, a weakness of sorts for Hamilton. "He had a better background arriving to Prema. We worked on this a bit more with Lewis [at ART]."
Who's poised to beat the other? We will have to wait until the season gets underway in Bahrain, because even for Capietto, the answer to this question remains a mistery. "At the end they are both doing well and combining talent and skills when learning and working," concluded Prema's team manager.
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