Charles Leclerc Urged to Abandon Ferrari for F1 Rival as Lewis Hamilton Shoots Up in Italian Giants’ Priority List

The drivers’ market has already begun to heat up in F1. That is despite the fact that we are just 5 races into the season. The reason behind it is Lewis Hamilton. The Briton will run out of his contract with the struggling Mercedes at the end of the season. Amidst all this, speculations over a possible move to Ferrari are doing the rounds. Meanwhile, Ferrari isn’t having a great season either and talks about Charles Leclerc looking for a move elsewhere are making headlines as well. Given how things are going in the championship as of now, a Red Bull seat would be the best-case scenario. If not, a former F1 team boss weighs a Mercedes move to be just as good for one crucial reason.

With the advent of the ground-effect regulations, both Mercedes and Ferrari have struggled to match Red Bull. Ferrari got off to a great start with 2 race wins in the first three races of the 2022 season. However, the development program lost steam while the Austrian team made big strides in progress. The current season is turning out to be an even bigger embarrassment. Mercedes, on the other hand, has struggled consistently for pace.

Charles Leclerc urged to look beyond Red Bull

Leclerc’s current contract with Ferrari will conclude at the end of the 2024 season. However, if Ferrari were to bring in Hamilton and let Leclerc go, Mercedes could very well be a likely destination for him. In fact, rumors are running around over the Maranello team offering the Briton a $49 million contract.

In a recent live chat on his YouTube channel, veteran F1 journalist and former team manager Peter Windsor said, “I think for Charles, he’d love to be in a Red Bull but if he can’t be in a Red Bull, I think it’s better for him to be in a Mercedes than a Ferrari because he’s just had so much stuff going on at Ferrari over the years emotionally, politically, socially, that I think he would love it at Mercedes which is a much more clinical team from his point of view and it would be from Mercedes’ point of view. Very good team.”

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Windsor also listed out how a driver swap between Leclerc and Hamilton can work out really well for both teams and drivers. And given that speculations are running over the Maranello outfit offering Hamilton a lucrative offer, the plan does not sound too ludicrous.

How Mercedes, Ferrari, Leclerc, and Lewis Hamilton can benefit from a driver swap

Hamilton, for the first time in his F1 career, went a full season without a race win last year. Given the way the team is going about its business right now, it does not look like it will change anytime soon. Needless to say, he could benefit from some change around him. So could both teams, in Peter Windsor’s opinion.

He continued, “I don’t think they’d (Mercedes) be losing that much if they had Leclerc-Russell, compared with Hamilton-Russell. I think Charles is that good and Lewis is that good. I think Ferrari will definitely benefit from having Lewis there. Fresh thinking and fresh approach, slightly different ways of operating as well. And I think Carlos Sainz would really dovetail really well with Lewis at Ferrari. So I do see that happening.”

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Do you think Hamilton will switch teams after being at Mercedes for 10 years? Is a move to Silver Arrows really the answer to Leclerc’s woes?