Could Charles Leclerc replace Lewis Hamilton at Mercedes? Damon Hill gives his take

Damon Hill reckons Charles Leclerc is in pole position to replace Lewis Hamilton at Mercedes and will jump on the opportunity if it arrives.

There have been reports about the future of Lewis Hamilton at the German team, and recently his seat has been linked to Leclerc. The Ferrari driver, though, is contracted with Ferrari till the 2024 season and has denied any conversation with German outfit.

Hill, though, is not convinced. The former Williams driver feels Leclerc is frustrated at Ferrari and will jump on the opportunity to move to Mercedes, telling Sky F1:

“I would say he would probably be a strong bet, yes. I think that Charles Leclerc is a talent that a lot of people feel has been wasted at Ferrari. Ferrari appear to have not given him what he needs to develop as a driver and also to deliver results."

Hill added:

“So I can imagine that the frustration is getting to Charles, and if someone like Mercedes said to him: ‘Listen, Lewis is deciding not to stay, but maybe deciding to move on, then would you be interested?’. I’m sure that he’d probably jump at that chance, yeah.”

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Charles Leclerc denies having any conversation with Mercedes

Charles Leclerc, meanwhile, has denied any suggestions of him chatting with Mercedes for a potential seat. Talking to the media, including Sportskeeda, he said ahead of the Azerbaijan GP this weekend:

“No, not yet. Not for the moment. For now, I am fully focused on the project I am in today, which is Ferrari, and I fully trust and am confident for the future.

"Then we will see, but I am fully confident for the project of Ferrari. I’m fully committed to Ferrari, and I love Ferrari. It has always been a dream for me to be in this team, and my main priority is to win a world championship with this team. So it’s (moving to Mercedes) is not something in my mind.”

Even though there have been murmurs about a potential move to Mercedes for Leclerc, they look a bit far-fetched at the moment.

Unless Hamilton decides to move to Ferrari, expecting Leclerc to break his contract with the Italian team and move to Mercedes appears highly unlikely. At the moment, with Mercedes arguably doing a better job than Ferrari, Hamilton might not be inclined to such a move anyway.