"There are no excuses at this level": Pundit on possible Charles Leclerc-Lewis Hamilton battle

Former F1 driver and pundit Martin Brundle believes there will be "no excuses" for Lewis Hamilton and Charles Leclerc in the 2025 season as he urged the Brit to use his experience to settle down quickly in Ferrari. Hamilton will have limited driving experience with the car before getting on track in the new 2025 challenger at the official pre-season test in Bahrain next month.

Under the regulations, the 40-year-old will only be allowed to complete a couple of TPCs in the SF-23, one of which he completed in his shakedown at Fiorano on Wednesday, January 22, when he did around 30 laps.

While appearing on Sky Sports, Martin Brundle spoke about the limited testing and his potential level against Charles Leclerc at the start of the year. He mentioned that Lewis Hamilton could rely on his experience for a quick turnaround, saying:

"He's got to do that. He's got to use his experience there are no excuses at this level for anybody, even the rookies. But you might give the rookies half a season to get their act together maximum. Somebody like Lewis, they will expect him within two or three races to have aced the people around him and the car," he said (5.00).

"Never underestimate Lewis Hamilton but Charles Leclerc is fast there's no doubt about it and he stopped crashing a little bit because he had a bit of a habit of overdriving himself in the car and hitting the wall a bit too frequently but Char's the real deal now and he'll take some beating," Brundle added.

Lewis Hamilton and Charles Leclerc have already had some iconic battles on the track, always providing a great spectacle for the fans whenever they went wheel-to-wheel, giving an account of clean and hard racing.

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Charles Leclerc buoyed by Lewis Hamilton's challenge at Ferrari

Ferrari driver Charles Leclerc said that he was "motivated" by the excitement within the team following the arrival of Lewis Hamilton.

The 27-year-old reflected on his first day after the winter break and said via his team's official website:

"Feeling all this excitement surrounding the team is very motivating. It was a good day, even though it was raining a little bit when I was driving. Of course, it was nice to be able to see Lewis driving his first laps in a Ferrari, which was a special moment for the team and for him. "

The Monegasque finished the 2024 season in P3 in the drivers' championship with three race wins and has been with the Italian team since 2019. Meanwhile, Hamilton could only muster a P7 behind his ex-teammate George Russell.