Leclerc reveals what ‘surprised’ him from working with Hamilton at Ferrari as he opens up about relationship

Charles Leclerc has opened up about his experience of working with Lewis Hamilton so far at Ferrari, with the Monegasque admitting that he was “surprised” by the similarities in their driving styles which he views as a positive factor for the team.

Hamilton officially joined the Scuderia in January and has since embarked on an “immersion programme” with the team, helping the Briton to familiarise himself with his new environment, while more recently he appeared alongside Leclerc to launch the squad’s livery at the F1 75 Live event before getting behind the wheel of the SF-25 at pre-season testing in Bahrain.

During the test days at the Bahrain International Circuit, Leclerc was asked how it felt to see Hamilton experiencing the emotions that come with joining Ferrari, something that he himself went through when he made his debut for the outfit back in 2019.

“It’s really nice to see,” Leclerc responded. “Obviously it’s very different, the situation that Lewis finds himself in joining the team.

LONDON, ENGLAND - FEBRUARY 18: Lewis Hamilton of Great Britain and Scuderia Ferrari and Charles — Hamilton and Leclerc unveiled the livery for the SF-25 during the F1 75 Live event in London

“When I joined, I only had done one year in Formula 1 [with Sauber], so everything was still new to me and I had to learn how a team like Ferrari would work in Formula 1, even though I knew the factory and everything by being in the Ferrari Driver Academy before.

“For Lewis, an Italian team is pretty new to him, but he has achieved so much and he arrives here as a legend of the sport.

“It’s really cool to see what it was like for him to have so much success in other teams and the way they used to work, so on that we’ve learned a lot, and it was really exciting to see how happy and excited he was about the whole thing.

“For me that meant that the off-season was a bit more in the shadow, but I enjoyed it. I focused on myself, I’m pushing at the maximum to be ready for the first race, and I’m really looking forward to this year. I’m hoping that we’ll start the year in a more positive way compared to last year.”

Lewis Hamilton’s first reflections of his Ferrari testing debut

In terms of his working relationship with Hamilton, Leclerc is hopeful that they can “push in the same direction” given that they both have certain aspects of their driving style in common.

“I was surprised – our driving style is very similar,” the 27-year-old explained. “We both like to push quite a lot, especially the entries, and on that we are quite similar.

“That’s positive because I think it requires the same thing out of the car, and I think as a team that is always a good thing because we’ll definitely push in the same direction because we need the same things, so that was good, and we’re working super well together.

“We’ve spent quite a bit of time together since the beginning of the year, less on track, more in the studio to do pictures which is not the part we enjoy the most but it’s part of the job! And yeah, I’m looking forward to race with him and hopefully bring Ferrari back to the top.”