Juan Pablo Montoya predicts Charles Leclerc will struggle once Ferrari adapts car to Lewis Hamilton’s style. Juan Pablo Montoya predicts Lewis Hamilton will take control at Ferrari.

Juan Pablo Montoya is convinced that Lewis Hamilton will eventually take control of Ferrari’s internal hierarchy, making life more difficult for Charles Leclerc in the coming months.

After fourteen races since the start of the 2025 Formula 1 season, few would have expected to see such a noticeable gap between the Ferrari drivers Lewis Hamilton and Charles Leclerc. More than the difference in points in the standings, the real gap between the two Scuderia Ferrari team-mates lies in their level of performance on track and their respective feeling with the SF-25 car.

At the beginning of the year, both drivers were disappointed by the performance of the new Ferrari SF-25, which failed to meet expectations. However, Charles Leclerc quickly found a development direction and driving approach that allowed him to feel more comfortable behind the wheel. This improvement has been reflected in his results during the first half of the season, most recently highlighted by his pole position at the Hungarian Grand Prix.

Meanwhile, on the other side of the Ferrari garage, Lewis Hamilton has been looking increasingly disheartened. The British driver, who left Mercedes to join Ferrari in 2025 with the ambition of fighting for wins and an eighth world title, appeared particularly downbeat in Budapest. There, his comments to the media suggested frustration to the point where some even speculated about a potential early exit from the team.

A former F1 driver has no doubts about what will happen next
Despite Lewis Hamilton’s current struggles, Juan Pablo Montoya has no doubts about how the situation between the two Ferrari drivers could evolve in the near future. Explaining his view of the current scenario, Montoya told the Colombian edition of AS: “What is happening is that Lewis is at a point where he wants to beat his team-mate. He is working incredibly hard but the car is not yet what he wants. The engineers have understood this, but they have not yet found the right setup to satisfy him.”

Montoya continued with his prediction for the months ahead: “At the same time, Charles is very fast and is able to manage the car. But I am convinced that, as soon as Ferrari adapts the car to Lewis’s driving style, Leclerc will struggle. Until now he has not suffered from having a driver like the Briton alongside him, but we will see how it goes.”