Lewis Hamilton and George Russell were Mercedes teammates for three years (Image: Getty)
Lewis Hamilton faces one of the toughest tests of his career after joining forces with Charles Leclerc at Ferrari. The seven-time world champion is getting his feet under the table with the Italian squad following one of the biggest driver moves in F1 history.
How Hamilton shapes up against demon qualifier Leclerc will be one of the most significant subplots of the 2025 season, which begins in Australia next month. The 40-year-old endured a poor 2024 campaign when he was generally second-best to teammate George Russell.
While their race pace was close, Russell dominated Hamilton in qualifying, with head-to-head stats of 19-5 in his favour. That led to suggestions that the pair were not getting equal treatment. More realistically, the one-sided record suggests Hamilton’s out-and-out pace over one lap has regressed, a theory he will look to debunk in 2025.
Sabotage theory
Russell’s domination in qualifying last year led to suggestions by Hamilton himself that Mercedes were not giving the pair equal equipment. Often last year, Hamilton looked strong in practice, only to fall short in qualifying.
Speaking after qualifying in Monaco, where Russell was given an upgraded front wing, Hamilton said: “I’ve been driving the same through yesterday [in practice] and today and the car was performing pretty well.
“The small difference between the two cars is that George has the upgraded front wing so that created a performance difference, particularly in the high speed. But for some reason as we got to qualifying, I had no more.
“I expect it now, every time I come into qualifying, I already know I’m gonna lose a couple of tenths. I don’t anticipate being ahead of George in qualifying this year.”
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Russell hits back
Russell didn’t accept Hamilton’s suggestion of unequal treatment when they were put to him. He told Channel 4: “I think that was probably comments in the heat of the moment because he knows full well that we get the same treatment. Lewis is a winner and of course, these years have been frustrating for all of us, but especially for him.”
Awkward reaction
Hamilton’s comments led to Russell receiving backlash on social media, prompting the F1 icon to appeal for positivity among his and Mercedes’ fanbase. Hamilton said: “I think it’s easy to get emotional.
“I think we need support, not negativity, and I wasn’t actually aware that George was experiencing negativity. George has done nothing but his best every single weekend and is delivering for the team, so he can’t be faulted at all.
“Of course, there can always be things done better within the team, and that comes through conversation, through communication, and that’s something that we are consistently working on.”
Russell outpaced Hamilton during their final season as teammates (Image: Getty)
Rosberg weighs in
The previous teammate to beat Hamilton was Nico Rosberg, with the pair feuding on and off the track as they fought for the title between 2014 and 2016. The German, who took the 2016 crown before immediately retiring, dismissed any suggestions of bias after Hamilton brought the curtain down on his Mercedes career with a strong showing at the season-ending Abu Dhabi Grand Prix, which saw him catch and overtake Russell on the final lap.
Rosberg told Sky Sports F1: “I’m pretty sure they didn’t favour George. One of the best times to see that was Toto Wolff’s comment in the race, when Lewis came out of the box and he was 14 seconds behind George.
“He said, ‘So how many seconds?’ And Bono [Pete Bonnington, Hamilton’s race engineer] said 14. And Lewis said, ‘Geez, that’s far down the road’. And Toto came on the radio and said, ‘You can do this, Lewis.’
Hamilton will find it tough to beat Charles Leclerc in qualifying (Image: Getty)
“This is talking about the teammates! ‘Oh, Lewis, you can do this!’ If I was George and I listened back on this, I’d be like, ‘Toto, Hey, what’s up with that? You should be neutral here.’
“So that’s because they were under a lot of pressure, the team, because a lot of fans, every time Lewis gets beaten by George, a lot of fans are like, ‘Oh, this is sabotage’.”
Ferrari warning
Despite claiming more than 100 pole positions during his illustrious career, qualifying has never been his strength, according to Red Bull advisor Helmut Marko, a close confidante of Max Verstappen.
The Austrian has warned against writing Hamilton off. Marko said per OE24: “I would be careful with that. If Hamilton is motivated, he can continue where he left off in 2021. The race to catch up that he delivered back then was impressive.”
Hamilton testing his new Ferrari (Image: Getty)
However, Marko says Hamilton must iron out his recent qualifying issues to stand any chance of success this season. He added: “However, the Ferrari has to be competitive. And Hamilton has to get qualifying right. That was never his strength.”
Early signs
While official testing begins in Bahrain on Wednesday, F1 teams are allowed limited running at a track of choice. On Wednesday, Hamilton and Leclerc sampled the new SF-25 for the first time at Ferrari test track Fiorano.
While times are irrelevant at this time of year, Leclerc’s fastest time was reportedly 0.08 seconds quicker than Hamilton’s. Leclerc’s time of 56.060 seconds was only just slower than Michael Schumacher’s lap record, set back in 2004.
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