Charles Leclerc would prefer Lewis Hamilton over George Russell as a potential teammate at Mercedes, according to F1 pundit

F1 pundit Peter Windsor has opined that Charles Leclerc would rather join forces with Lewis Hamilton at Mercedes and get George Russell to take his Ferrari seat. Windsor believes that Hamilton would be a better match for Leclerc over Russell.

During the initial phase of this year's championship, speculations circulated about a potential direct exchange between Hamilton and Leclerc for the upcoming season, as both drivers appeared dissatisfied with their respective teams' performances.

However, Mercedes has found their rhythm with their upgraded W14 model. Hamilton even secured second place in the recent Spanish Grand Prix. Notably, he finished ahead of his teammate Russell.

As a result, there is growing speculation that the British driver will renew his contract with Mercedes, and this decision could be made within the next few days or even hours.

If the contract comes through, talks about Lewis Hamilton going to Ferrari will subside for a while.

However, the possibility of Charles Leclerc partnering up with the seven-time world champion in the near future will always exist. Windsor believes Hamilton would be a better match for Leclerc than Russell due to the Briton's current form.

Speaking on his YouTube channel, Peter Windsor said about Charles Leclerc:

“If you said to Charles right now, if he was here and you having dinner tonight privately, ‘Who would you rather have in the other Merc if you’re gonna go – George or Lewis?’ He’d say ‘Oh Lewis’."

He continued:

"It would be a big problem for Charles to beat George at Mercedes. I’d be surprised if he does actually because George knows the team, he knows the whole thing, so as good as Charles is, I don’t believe he would out-perform George.

“And if they got a championship-winning car, and it was George and Leclerc, I’d put my money on George – in year one.”

What led to Charles Leclerc and Carlos Sainz's struggles in Spain?

Despite significant upgrades to the SF-23, Ferrari had yet another disappointing weekend in Spain, with both drivers failing to make a strong impression. Carlos Sainz, starting in an encouraging second position, ended up finishing fifth, while his teammate Charles Leclerc struggled and failed to score any points, finishing in 11th place.

Renowned F1 pundit Mark Hughes observed that Ferrari's perennial issue of tire degradation plagued them once again. He specifically analyzed Carlos Sainz's tire degradation and found that it was so severe that his lap times on new medium tires were comparable to Lewis Hamilton's lap times on worn soft tires.

In addition, Ferrari opted for significantly lower wing levels compared to both Red Bull and Mercedes, which provided them an advantage in qualifying but exposed them to even greater tire degradation during the race.

Mark Hughes wrote for Formula1.com:

"Knowing how demanding the track is of the tyres, why Ferrari chose this level of wing is the interesting point. Its ride quality over the kerbs was poor, just as it had been in Monaco last week, and around Barcelona that was inducing bouncing in the car in qualifying. Running more downforce may only have worsened that."

With Charles Leclerc and Ferrari hoping that their performance in Spain was an outlier, it will be interesting to see the team's progress in the coming races.