Jun.15 (GMM) Lewis Hamilton’s long-awaited first Ferrari victory is ramping up pressure on teammate Charles Leclerc.
The seven-time world champion ended a win drought stretching back to his final years at Mercedes with a commanding Barcelona triumph, continuing a remarkable turnaround in form that has lifted him to P2 in the drivers’ championship behind runaway leader Kimi Antonelli.
At the same time, Leclerc’s season has slipped into a slump despite his brand new long-term Ferrari contract extension.
After his controversial Monaco crash, which he blamed on Brembo, prompting a switch to Hamilton’s Carbon Industrie brake material, the Monegasque suffered a major qualifying crash in Barcelona before openly accepting responsibility.
And following Sunday’s race, Leclerc admitted he is struggling.
“I’m not at the level I want to be at, I need to find more performance,” he said.
1997 world champion Jacques Villeneuve believes Hamilton’s resurgence could have significant consequences inside Ferrari.
“It’s a contract with better terms, practically a lifetime contract,” he said of Leclerc’s recent extension.
“But who’s actually scoring points for Ferrari? Who’s fighting for the top spots?”
Former F1 driver Ralf Schumacher thinks Hamilton has already gained a psychological advantage.
“Now the mind games between the two are starting,” he told Sky Deutschland.
“You can tell they’re not exactly on good terms, perhaps like Rosberg and Hamilton back then.”
Schumacher believes Hamilton’s recent declaration that he has “remembered who I am” was not only aimed at his critics. “At the moment, Leclerc is simply putting himself under too much pressure,” he said.
“Lewis is doing it very cleverly. He knows that under normal circumstances he can’t be faster than Leclerc, but he’s trying to push him a little.
“Charles doesn’t understand why he no longer has that two-thirds of a second advantage and is starting to overdrive the car.”
Schumacher said he recognised the pattern from his own Formula 1 career alongside Juan Pablo Montoya at Williams. “You just keep driving, pushing, and either you overdo it or you make mistakes like Charles did.”
With Hamilton now P2 in the championship ahead of George Russell, Schumacher believes Mercedes faces a much tougher challenge than earlier in the season.
“It will definitely get tougher for Mercedes,” he said.
Leclerc, however, insists he feels no jealousy about Hamilton’s breakthrough success.
“I’m happy for the team because they really deserve it, and Lewis who has worked so hard and is more comfortable with the car now,” he said.
“Now it’s up to me to just work. There’s no envy, to be completely honest, but I think the disappointment is the feeling I’ll go home with, so now I have to reset hoping to have a cleaner weekend in Austria and then we’ll see.”
Formula 1 CEO Stefano Domenicali is among those delighted to see Hamilton back on top.
“It’s a sign of respect when you have that legacy in the sport,” he told DAZN. “You show that you’re there fighting in difficult times when people were telling you to go home.
“To be there fighting and winning is incredible. Very happy.”
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