Charles Leclerc and Lewis Hamilton; The Best Ever Driver Pairing in F1?

“Everyone is a Ferrari fan. Even if they say they’re not, they are Ferrari fans. Even if you go to the Mercedes guys,…. they are Ferrari fans,” said an unaware Sebastian Vettel who was driving for the scarlet team and competing against Mercedes’ double world champion at the time, Lewis Hamilton. However, what transpired seven years later didn’t even exist in F1 fans’ wildest of imaginations. 7 time world champion Hamilton decided to end the most successful partnership in the history of sport to realize every motorhead’s dream-driving for the historic Ferrari.

After all it is the same team which has mesmerized multiple world champions and latest being Sebastian Vettel who severed ties with Red Bull in 2014 to follow in the footsteps of his childhood hero, Michael Schumacher. However, whilst the world reeled in shock of this move, another jaw dropping situation is the coupling of Lewis and Charles Leclerc.

Is Lewis Hamilton an ideal teammate for Charles Leclerc?

“Hello Lewis,” said a grinning Charles Leclerc when the media questioned him about his idea of an ideal teammate in 2023. While it was all fun and games at that point in time, it manifested into reality only a few months later. On most occasions, the current driver pairing of Ferrari (Carlos Sainz and Charles Leclerc) have been allowed to race each other but now we will have the greatest one lap racer against a hepta champ. What will be Ferrari’s move? In my opinion, the team has two options, it can either wait it out to establish a number 1 or can take the McLaren 1988 route.

There is always a ‘number 1’ driver at every team where the biggest resources are dedicated towards that driver; most prominent example is Max Verstappen, who is a clear golden boy ahead of Sergio Perez in Red Bull, which has worked out very well for the team. However, McLaren’s glorious past shows us a contrary example that if you put two great drivers alongside each other, they can prove to be the greatest driver pairing of all times. Alain Prost and Ayrton Senna pushed each other to the brim and won all races but one in 1988. The question is, can Ferrari, who have been known to have a favorite driver all throughout, pit Lewis and Charles Leclerc against each other? Only time will tell.

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Charles Leclerc’s warning to Lewis Hamilton

Ferrari already boasts of housing a 7x champion; Michael Schumacher and as the future holds, the man who equaled the German’s record will race for them as well. In vacuum, the move seems dreamlike, but the biggest issue still persists. Will Charles Leclerc be okay relinquishing the golden boy crown to the Britton? The recent reports suggest otherwise.

The move that shocked the F1 world shocked Charles equally. According to the Italian publication Corriere dello Sport, Leclerc and his management were “shocked and disappointed by Ferrari’s decision” and the Monacan “did not imagine was going to happen”. Leclerc’s partnership with Sainz has been somewhat successful and a comfortable one for the Monegasque. Corriere’s report adds Leclerc remained tight-lipped on the move as to not ‘reveal a weakness’. Interestingly, the silent reaction has also said volumes and the driver pairing is bound to be explosive (either way, wink wink)

Read More: Charles Leclerc Revealed Lewis Hamilton “Can See Exactly Where Max [Verstappen’s] Car Is Better”, but He Still Doubts His Future Teammate

Who do you think will outperform the other in 2025? If only we could fast forward to the next season and see it for ourselves instead of joining the dots.

Editorial Disclaimer: The views expressed are those of the author and do not necessarily reflect the opinions of EssentiallySports.