Charles Leclerc Has Gone Up A Level And Hamilton Knows It

Back in April, we ran a piece debating which young driver would win an F1 title first between Red Bull’s Max Verstappen or Ferrari’s Charles Leclerc. Some thought that it would be the former, since he has more experience and is clearly his team’s no.1 driver.

However, Leclerc has shown in recent races that he’s ready for a greater form of four-wheel combat, where he could consistently challenge the very best drivers on the grid, such as Lewis Hamilton or his teammate at Ferrari, Sebastian Vettel.

The fact that he has out-qualified Vettel in the past six races has not gone unnoticed either. When asked by Autosport what he thinks about Leclerc’s overall performance, here’s what reigning F1 champion Lewis Hamilton had to say:

“His results speak for themselves really. It’s not easy for any driver to jump into a top team, let alone Ferrari, against a four-time world champion [Vettel] with God knows how much more experience. And then continuously, from race one, outperform, out-qualify and out-drive a four-time world champion is not easy to do.”

“He’s been really unlucky in quite a few races this year, it could easily have been the third win [this past Sunday in Belgium]. So, there’s a lot more greatness to come from him and I’m looking forward to seeing his growth and racing alongside him.”

Also read: Lewis Hamilton Wants To Be Challenged Consistently By Verstappen And Leclerc

As for how Leclerc feels, let’s just say he doesn’t lack any confidence, especially after putting on a show at Spa recently.

“I think I’ve been in better form [than Vettel] in qualifying since six races [ago],” he said. “I’ve changed my approach a little bit.”

“If I feel like I’m ready to be challenging for world titles, at the end I have the car and team for it. We obviously need to work because we are struggling a bit compared to Mercedes, but on my side, I’ve got a lot to learn, that’s for sure, but I feel ready.”