F1 Pundit asserts Charles Leclerc won’t ‘underestimate’ Lewis Hamilton at Ferrari

F1 Pundit asserts Charles Leclerc won’t ‘underestimate’ Lewis Hamilton at Ferrari

Charles Leclerc and Lewis Hamilton (via Scuderia Ferrari)

Lewis Hamilton will race for Scuderia Ferrari this year. The seven-time world champion partners Charles Leclerc as teammate at the Italian team. Now, F1 presenter Craig Slater has emphasized that Leclerc would be vary of his world-champion teammate.

Hamilton joins Maranello with the hopes of winning the world title, this could present a challenge for Leclerc. The Monegasque driver has already planned to analyze every move of the 40-year-old. Though, the seven-time world champion recently claimed that the duo formed the strongest driver pairing in F1 history.

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Craig Slater recalled that Lewis Hamilton is learning how to adjust to Ferrari machinery, be it adjusting brake balance or tweaking other settings, something which would be muscle memory for Leclerc. However, Slater insisted that Charles Leclerc would not underestimate Hamilton as the British driver would be up to speed in no time.

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He’s understood seemingly how Hamilton, who was saying that he still has to learn exactly how every little tool that he has at his disposal, in terms of differential change or brake balance adjustment… But also Leclerc would underestimate Hamilton’s race craft at his peril. He knows not to underestimate Lewis.

Craig Slater told Sky F1

Charles Leclerc waiting till the Australian GP

Slater reckoned that Leclerc was currently playing the waiting game. Lewis Hamilton will only show his true performance on the day of the Australian GP. As such, the Monegasque driver will need to wait till the day of the race to truly understand how quick his teammate will be over the course of the season.

Charles Leclerc (via Getty)
Charles Leclerc (via Getty)

Lewis is at his best on a Sunday afternoon or a Sunday morning, as it’s going to be for us for the Australian Grand Prix. So Leclerc is waiting to see what kind of team-mate he’s going to have in Australia.

Craig Slater explained

Certainly, Lewis Hamilton will leave no stone unturned to challenge Charles Leclerc this year. Though, the two drivers will likely stay clear of any aggressive battles at least in the first half of the season. Nevertheless, things can escalate quite quickly in Formula 1 if the two find themselves in contention for the world title.