"You've got a long way to go" - When Lewis Hamilton consoled Charles Leclerc after a race

A video of Lewis Hamilton consoling Charles Leclerc after the 2019 Bahrain GP has recently gone viral. Leclerc started the race in pole position and led the race until his Ferrari challenger gave him engine trouble.

Watch the clip below:

From ecstasy to woe - that was Charles Leclerc's experience in Bahrain back in 2019. The Monegasque earned his first pole position in the sport on the Saturday before the race and looked to be in contention in the opening stages of the GP.

However, tragedy soon struck as his Ferrari challenger went into 'limp mode' due to a loss of power. Leclerc was then a sitting duck for Mercedes drivers Lewis Hamilton and Valtteri Bottas, who delivered a 1-2 for the team.

Hamilton consoled Leclerc in the cooldown room after the race, saying:

"You drove great this weekend, man. You really drove fantastic, man. Hey man, you've got a long old future ahead of you, so... I know it sucks in this moment but you got a long, long way to go."

Charles Leclerc could benefit from the seven-time world champion's consolation right now as well. The Monegasque beached his car on the opening lap of the 2023 Australian GP to drop out of the race.

Lewis Hamilton, on the other hand, drove a fantastic race and went on to take P2 behind Max Verstappen in Melbourne.

Lewis Hamilton still feels 'disconnected' from his W14 despite P2 finish in Melbourne

Hamilton finished P2 at the 2023 Australian GP, trailing behind his 2021 competitor Max Verstappen, who took the lead. Hamilton displayed impressive pace throughout the weekend, deftly managing his car amidst the turbulent conditions.

On Sunday, Albert Park witnessed a considerable amount of mayhem, with four red flags interrupting the 58-lap race. Starting from P3, Hamilton trailed his teammate George Russell and two-time world champion Max Verstappen. Russell had to retire early due to a technical problem midway through the race.

In an interview with David Coulthard at Parc Ferme after the race, Lewis Hamilton expressed his excitement about his fantastic performance and appreciated the team's contribution to his success. Nevertheless, the seven-time world champion admitted that he is not yet entirely comfortable with the W14 despite his impressive finish.

He said:

"Unlucky for George today, really unfortunate. I didn't expect to be second so I'm super grateful for it. I still feel uncomfortable in the car though, I'm driving as best I can and working as hard as I can but still, considering we've been down on performance and in straight pace, for us to be up there fighting with Aston is amazing. We can close that gap - it's going to be tough but not impossible."

With a race win within touching distance for the seven-time world champion, it will be interesting to see whether Lewis Hamilton breaks his winless streak over the year.