Hamilton warned 'there'll be a point when he won't be able to beat Leclerc'
F1 News
Lewis Hamilton will make the move to Ferrari for the 2025 Formula 1 season. He will join forces with Charles Leclerc. Ex-Ferrari engineer Rob Smedley doesn't believe Hamilton will be about to "trounce" the man from Monaco but does expect Hamilton to beat him. Leclerc has been at the team since the 2019 Formula season.
Mercedes missed the mark when the 2022 rules and regulations were introduced. Hamilton found it difficult and had to endure a near 1,000-day win drought, which ended at the 2024 British Grand Prix. Hamilton was beaten by his teammate Russell in the 2022 season but returned the favour in 2023. The seven-time World Champion currently sits ahead of Russell in 2024.
In 2025, Hamilton will come up against another driver of Russell's generation. Leclerc will provide a strong challenge, but Smedley believes Hamilton will beat him.
Can Hamilton beat Leclerc?
"Lewis is a true professional. I think he knows how good Charles is, but he will also back himself to beat him over 24 races or whatever it is. I think he will. I think there'll come a point when he won't be able to do that anymore, but it's certainly not now. The guy's so fit, he's so mentally strong," Smedley said on the Formula for Success podcast.
"I don't want to call it a lack of motivation because that would be disrespectful to the guy, but I think we've seen every now and again some frustration that comes through in him not being able to then deliver like he has done in the past but there's no doubt about the passion and how much he wants to win," he added before highlighting the passion on show at the British Grand Prix.
Smedley knows the Ferrari team inside and out from his time working there in the late 2000s. "I don't think Lewis is going to go to Ferrari and think that he's going to be able to trounce Charles, because I don't think he will be able to, because it just won't be that easy. But I believe he will work very hard. I think he'll work very hard. I think he'll integrate himself into the team. And I think that will be the making of the next stage of Ferrari," he concluded.
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