'%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 driver Juan Pablo Montoya warned that Ferrari's endeavor to help Lewis Hamilton in car development was going to hurt Charles Leclerc. The 2025 F1 season's biggest story continues to be the storyline of the most successful driver in the sport joining hands with the most successful team in the sport.
The start saw a major moment where Hamilton secured pole position and got the win in a sprint in just his second weekend with the team. However, if we exclude the driver's performance in the sprint in China, the results have not been good. Leclerc has dominated his legendary teammate in almost every race weekend, and the gap between the two has only continued to increase.
The situation reached an all-time low in Saudi Arabia, where Hamilton was around half a second slower in qualifying. This was followed by the race where the Ferrari's biggest star was outclassed by his young counterpart. Hamilton will finish the race more than 30 seconds behind his teammate and subsequently apologize to the team for the lack of performance.
Trending
In a bigger warning, Lewis Hamilton proclaimed that he didn't expect things to improve this season and the pain to continue. Since then, Ferrari has come out and said that the team would try to adapt the car to the driver's style. Former McLaren driver Juan Pablo Montoya has warned that such a move could potentially hurt the other Ferrari driver, Charles Leclerc, who has been in blistering form lately. He told Plejmo:
"Hamilton is blaming himself now for not performing, but he is just not comfortable. Everyone is trying to make him feel more comfortable, but the result is that if they focus so much on Lewis, they will have problems with Charles in the long run."
"I think Ferrari will experience that too. If they design the car for Lewis, it will be at the expense of Charles' performance. So it will be interesting to see how far they are prepared to go to make Lewis feel comfortable."
Charles Leclerc would learn from Lewis Hamilton
Juan Pablo Montoya also felt that Charles Leclerc could learn a lot from Lewis Hamilton during his time with the seven-time F1 champion at Ferrari. In the first 5 races, it has primarily been a one-way street, with Leclerc having the edge over his teammate more often than not.
Talking about the benefits of having Lewis Hamilton as a teammate, Montoya told Plejmo:
"I think he has a great opportunity to learn from Lewis. If he can get even close to him, he can learn a lot. Charles is already doing well, but he can still learn a lot from Lewis. And I think if he plays it smart, he can have a Ferrari that can actually fight for the title."
The adaptation process has taken some time for the 7x champion, but it would be interesting to see if he can turn things around soon enough before pressure starts piling on him from the team and the media.
