'%20x='0'%20y='0'%20height='100%25'%20width='100%25'%20%0A%20%20%20%20%20%20%20%20%20%20xlink%3Ahref='data:image/jpg;base64,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'%3E%3C/image%3E%3C/svg%3E)
Former F1 champion Damon Hill has questioned the dip in Charles Leclerc's recent form compared to teammate Carlos Sainz and how he will stay with the team while the Spaniard leaves in 2025. Leclerc started the season impressively and was consistent in races.
Charles Leclerc's season peaked at Monaco, where he won his home race for the first time. He had closed down the gap with Max Verstappen in the championship to only 31 points. Since then. it has been a horror show for Leclerc, as he has been lapped twice as Ferrari's strategy in mixed conditions completely unraveled. During these four races, Sainz has been more impressive, bagging a podium in Austria.
Charles Leclerc is now 105 points behind Verstappen. On the F1 Nation podcast, Hill questioned what's going on with Leclerc, as the Ferrari driver had a complete disaster in Silverstone. Hill also pointed out how Sainz has scored strong points for the team. He said:
Trending
“It's a mystery to me because Carlos seems to come out of the situations and making more of what he has than Charles does, and yet Charles is the guy staying (at Ferrari in 2025).
"I don't understand what is going on at Ferrari that means he is not getting good support from the team, and from the strategy and stuff, it seems a little bit muddled.”
If Charles Leclerc is the driver for Ferrari, the team need a better strategy unit
Damon Hill feels while Carlos Sainz has consistently shown an ability to make the most of peculiar situations, Charles Leclerc hasn't.
However, since Leclerc is going to team up with Lewis Hamilton next season, the team need a better strategy unit that doesn't depend a lot on the driver and keeps things simple. Hill said:
“I don't quite understand why that should be, whereas Carlos seems to be able to take command of the situation and just say, ‘Well, I'm doing this, this is what I want to do’. Maybe that's given the strategy people confidence which they don't have with Charles."
He added:
“So I'm not saying it's the driver's fault, but I'm saying that if Charles is what you've got, you need to be able to have a better, confident pit wall strategy team there for him.”
Charles Leclerc heads to Hungary next, where he has not had the best of runs. He will hope to improve his fortunes.
