Scuderia Ferrari is awaiting Lewis Hamilton, who will join Charles Leclerc starting with the 2025 Formula 1 championship, in what will be one of the most highly anticipated line-ups on the grid. Meanwhile, the last stretch of the current F1 season is approaching, which will be useful in laying the groundwork for the coming year. This is the goal of the Prancing Horse in the next six rounds of the season, on tracks that have traditionally been tough for the historic Maranello-based team. Mathematically, there is still a chance to dream of closing the current 2024 Formula 1 campaign triumphantly. However, when realistically analyzing the overall context, it’s likely that Ferrari will have to put its hopes for a comeback on the next championship.f
The final world championship under the current technical regulations will feature the greatest partnership in history, statistically speaking: the legendary Maranello team will welcome the driver who has shattered all the records, rewriting the history of the pinnacle of motorsport. We are talking about Sir Lewis Hamilton, who will take over Carlos Sainz’s seat, forming a duo with Charles Leclerc that, at least on paper, should have no rivals. There is much curiosity about how the seven-time world champion and the beloved Monegasque will coexist in Ferrari.
After twelve seasons, the experienced English star will face a new process in terms of adjusting to a change in his environment, which will be somewhat different from the past. Lewis Hamilton has always raced for teams based in the United Kingdom, first McLaren and then Mercedes. This is just one of the many challenges the seven-time Formula 1 world champion has decided to take on in what will likely be his final F1 experience. As always, the most successful partnerships require a deep understanding of the working environment and mutual trust between the parties involved. Lewis Hamilton’s driving abilities are, of course, not in question.
In recent weeks, there has been talk of the possibility of releasing Carlos Sainz early so he can take part in the end-of-season testing session at the Yas Marina Circuit in Abu Dhabi with his future team, namely Williams. This could be necessary for Lewis Hamilton to receive the same clearance from Mercedes, allowing him to step into the Ferrari cockpit by the end of the current year. It would be a good opportunity to shorten the time needed to familiarize himself with his new team, as would be the case for Carlos Sainz in Williams, so we are talking about a win-win situation. But a lot will depend on Toto Wolff’s willingness, which is also linked to the expiration of Lewis Hamilton’s contractual obligations with sponsors tied to the “Three-Pointed Star.”
Looking ahead to his future with the Maranello team, we can say that Lewis Hamilton’s competitiveness will depend on the car. Since the multi-time world champion from England has no longer been fighting for the Formula 1 world championship title, his performance in F1 has been somewhat inconsistent. Since 2022, Lewis Hamilton has “switched on” when the car has been up to his level. In this sense, the perfect example of this theory is his stunning performance at Silverstone last summer. Subconsciously, though we are in the realm of speculation, the British driver needs to fight for something significant to return to offering his best version.
A dynamic that is relatively normal for someone who has collected so many successes and records during their motorsport career. The severe technical difficulties Mercedes are facing with the advent of the current technical regulations have, in fact, never allowed the English champion to truly fight for the Formula 1 title. This scenario represents the only goal that still drives the nearly 40-year-old British driver to postpone retirement. For this reason, he has decided to tie his future to Ferrari, a team where, in addition to competing with the rest of the field, he will also have to face the talent of Charles Leclerc, who in our opinion will be the toughest teammate in his career.
Lewis Hamilton is one of the few great champions who has competed against teammates like Fernando Alonso, Jason Button, and Nico Rosberg, drivers who have won at least one title, and he held his own against them. In what we can define as the final phase of the seven-time Formula 1 world champion’s career, he will have one of the strongest drivers on the grid by his side: Charles Leclerc. This will probably be the most difficult internal challenge for the British driver for several reasons. First, the Monegasque has a deep knowledge of the Maranello team, having spent seven seasons with the Italian side since 2019.
We all know that Charles Leclerc is an extremely fast driver, eager to make up for lost time in his career due to cars that haven’t allowed him to compete for the world championship. “Last but not least,” for obvious age-related reasons, Ferrari’s long-term ambitions are tied to the young driver from Monte Carlo. Anyone who thinks Lewis Hamilton will easily win the internal battle with Charles Leclerc overlooks these factors or bases their opinion on their respective records. At this stage, the Monegasque driver is probably the most significant benchmark of the incomparable career of the English star.
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