Hamilton will sign up on Leclerc on the team for the new Formula 1 season
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The Monaco Grand Prix may be the “showdown” that makes a decision of the hierarchy between Lewis Hamilton and Charles Leclerc at Ferrari, according to former Cars designer Gary Anderson.
Hamilton will join Leclerc at Ferrari for the 2025 Formula 1 season, having inked a multi-year deal before the 2024 campaign. The move marks the end of the Briton’s 11-year spell with Mercedes, with whom Hamilton won seven drivers’ titles.
The 39-year-old replaces Carlos Sainz at Ferrari, with Leclerc having been the de facto No 1 at the team over the last few years. And ahead of the 2025 season, many fans have wondered whether Hamilton will usurp Leclerc in that role, or whether the Monegasque will retain his spot.
Hamilton has the pedigree, while the 27-year-old Leclerc has been in the biggest form in recent years — six race wins since 2021, to Hamilton’s two. For Anderson, a skilled F1 car designer and F1 form, Leclerc’s Origin Grand Prix in Monaco can be decisive.
“For Charles Leclerc, there will not be the same circle of relatives that Sainz brought Ferrari,” Anderson wrote for the race. “Yes, they had their battles, but they resolved the maximum of them in a friendly way.
“With Hamilton, seven times champion, joining, it can be absolutely different. Ferrari has already supported him to pay much more than Leclerc, and I think he will do the same, Hamilton, at least for the first component of the season, which can be wrapped in Leclerc.
“I think Monaco will be the matchup: whether Leclerc is exceptional. “
Hamilton is a three-time winner of the Monaco Grand Prix, which is scheduled for May 25 this year, while Leclerc despite the fact that he won the race last season. Pole won the 27-year-old pole, which he simply can’t do in 2021 and 2022.
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