Ex-Ferrari Formula 1 engineer Rob Smedley believes Charles Leclerc will become “the real deal himself” as he learns from the new 2025 team-mate Lewis Hamilton.
The Briton announced prior to the 2024 campaign starting that he would be leaving Mercedes after 12 seasons to move to the Italian marque on a multi-term contract.
Hamilton, who sustained a disappointing 2024 as he wound up seventh, is poised to encounter a tough test up against Leclerc, who has raced with Ferrari since 2018.
However, a win at Silverstone, his ninth in total on home soil, lifted the spirits of Hamilton whilst showcasing that he still has the raw pace to challenge at the front.
Smedley has contended that Leclerc can learn from Hamilton to replicate the relationship that Michael Schumacher and Felipe Massa had at Ferrari back in 2006.
“It’s a completely different situation, but it’s like Felipe Massa in 2006 against Michael Schumacher,“ Smedley told the Formula For Success podcast.
“He was the apprentice and it was alright that he got beat by Michael, and then, by the end of the year he was actually beating him on merit in qualifying.
“He did beat him in some races fortuitously.
“I think we’ve got a similar situation with Charles and if Charles is not the one that gets away [by making too many mistakes and wasting his potential], then it’s just a win-win situation.
“You’ve got this seven-time World Champion, a guy who can learn off him, eventually become the real deal himself.
“By this point, Lewis is ready to retire and exit stage left and now you’ve got this fully formed World Champion who’s going to be a winning machine.”
Hamilton to ‘boost’ Leclerc
Hamilton himself stated at the penultimate round of the 2024 F1 season, in Qatar, that he is “not fast anymore” having experienced another disappointing outing.
Smedley agreed that while Hamilton may end up with more race wins in 2025 for Ferrari, Leclerc will be the faster driver as his team-mate begins to “slow down”.
“I think there’s another point in that chronological trajectory as well – and please don’t hate me for saying it, because it’s just physiological – [and it’s] that Lewis starts to slow down a little bit,” he said. “When that is, we don’t know.
“It’s definitely not in the next year or two, because if you look at how psychologically strong he is, how motivated he is, how physically fit the guy is – look how he takes care of himself – that’s not coming anytime soon.
“But isn’t this a win-win situation for Ferrari as well?
“They’ve got this seven-time World Champion coming in.
“He’s going to boost Charles, because Charles is in a situation where – I don’t want to call him the young apprentice – he’ll feel a very different dynamic and a very different relationship to what he felt with Carlos Sainz, for example, where they were two peers, both at very similar stages of their career and both needing to beat each other.
“Charles has got a bit of slack here: he’s up against a seven-time World Champion.”
Massa wouldn’t hire Hamilton ‘because of his age’
Hamilton’s old foe Massa, who he clinched the 2008 title from on the final lap of that season’s Brazillian Grand Prix, has cast his verdict on his move to Ferrari.
Massa criticised his old team for the driver change, claiming Hamilton’s “age” will be a problem.
“If you asked me if I would hire Hamilton, as the head of Ferrari, as a driver, yes, I would, without a doubt,” he told Brazilian outlet Estadao.
“Because of the talent he has – he is one of the most incredible drivers in F1.
“But because of his age, maybe not, if you look at the sport, age matters.
“And we have to understand how much age is weighing on him in this situation or not.
“I’m talking about myself, these days I need to train much more physically than I used to.
“It’s much harder to recover physically after a difficult race or an intense training session.
“Age takes its toll in some areas, that’s normal.
“Age is something that has weighed negatively on several drivers, as it did for Schumacher.”
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