Ferrari urged to prioritise Lewis Hamilton over Charles Leclerc in car development by F1 insider

Ex-F1 driver Juan Pablo Montoya has advised Ferrari to prioritize Lewis Hamilton over Charles Leclerc by developing the SF-25 according to the British driver's needs. He argued that Hamilton is not at ease with the current setup of SF-25, a potential reason behind his dismal performance.

Ferrari pulled off an unthinkable heist this year, signing seven-time world champion Hamilton from Mercedes. However, despite extreme hype around the transfer, the British driver hasn't been able to deliver the desired results. He finished P10 in Australia and got disqualified in China.

Meanwhile, Juan Pablo Montoya has made an unusual suggestion to Ferrari. He urged them to develop the SF-25 around Hamilton's driving style, as he can truly deliver when he is confident with his machinery.

Montoya acknowledged that such a move would mean Ferrari is prioritizing Lewis Hamilton and that might piss off Charles Leclerc.

Talking to Vision4Sport, Montayo said (via Formula Passion):

"Lewis Hamilton doesn’t feel at ease in that car at all. Seeing it on TV, it looked like he had too much understeer and wanted a car that could turn a bit more. In Australia it looked like he didn’t trust the car. All Ferrari will have to do is improve the SF-25 for Lewis, a bit like what happens in Red Bull with Max. But if they improve the car for Lewis, what will happen to Charles? He will be unhappy."

Hamilton looked confident during the sprint race of the Chinese Grand Prix as he got pole position in the shootout and won the race subsequently. However, the team reportedly made some setup changes to his SF-25, which backfired in hindsight.

He lost pace and control of the car, and that led to a dip in performance. While the Brit crossed the checkered flag at P6, he was disqualified due to excessive skid block wear on his car.

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Ferrari risks losing Lewis Hamilton's trust, says former race strategist

Lewis Hamilton at F1 Grand Prix Of China - Source: Getty

Lewis Hamilton's much-awaited debut with Ferrari so far hasn't fared well. He got nine points in two races, inching a disqualification in China. Moreover, the Brit appeared unhappy with Ferrari's decision to change his car's setup following his sprint race victory in Shanghai.

Amid the shaky start, former race strategist Bernie Collins has warned Ferrari, saying Hamilton might lose trust in the team if things don't improve. Talking to Sky Sports, Collins said:

"Lewis was really struggling in the car on Sunday, and the car was illegal. The changes in the setup didn’t react in the way he wanted to, or he wouldn’t have been so slow in the race, and they’ve been illegal. So it is a bump. If they go through it and they find whatever’s wrong, then Lewis can get over that pretty quickly. But it’s one of these little things that adds to the lack of trust."

That being said, Lewis Hamilton has stated that he is still in the learning phase with the new Ferrari car. He aims to spend more time with the engineers to figure things out quickly and bounce back.