Charles Leclerc: Hamilton will be my reference point

Lewis Hamilton will be Charles Leclerc’s new teammate at Ferrari next season. In the latest episode of the Beyond the Grid podcast, the Monegasque spoke about what he expects from working with the seven-time world champion.

Charles Leclerc: “Lewis’ arrival will have a very positive impact on the whole team. When a world champion of Hamilton’s calibre joins a team, all the staff start to feel a huge motivation. This will be the first positive effect that it will bring to Ferrari.

In addition, Lewis has gained a wealth of experience during his year of appearances at Mercedes. He will bring a different way of working and a different vision, which will only benefit the team.

Working with Lewis will only be a plus for me. I will be driving exactly the same car as the most successful driver in the history of Formula 1. It will be extremely useful for me to learn from one of the best. It is not easy to stay ahead of Lewis, but it gives me the motivation to show what I can do.

To be honest, I don’t know how I’ll feel if I stay ahead of Hamilton. I haven’t even thought about it. I’ll try to focus on being the best version of myself. Of course, I’ll try to be like that every time I go to the track, but Lewis will be my reference point, so it’s important to always be at the peak of my capabilities.

Let’s see how it goes. I’ll do my best, he’ll do his best, and we’ll see where it goes. If I’m ahead of him, I’ll tell him how I feel.

Leclerc added that he is trying to spend more time with his future partner to get to know him better: “Everything is relative, but in the paddock I have communicated more with Lewis than with other drivers recently. We discuss our interests, especially music and fashion. We are interested in exchanging opinions with each other on these topics, but we don’t think we spend much time together.

“If Lewis joins the team, he and I will obviously have more things in common off the track and we will get to know each other better.”