Lewis Hamilton says he sees parallels between the current situation at Ferrari and the one he encountered during his rookie campaign at McLaren.
Four-time World Champion Sebastian Vettel has been joined by 21-year-old Charles Leclerc for 2019, with Ferrari having so far given its backing to Vettel.
Leclerc has been given an instruction at each of the three grands prix held so far to either stay behind Vettel or to cede position to his team-mate.
Then-rookie Hamilton was partnered by two-time champion Fernando Alonso and the situation soured amid a series of incidents and team mismanagement, with Alonso departing after just one season.
“I think he’s a little bit younger than I was, a year or so, but when you’re young, particularly, I remember wanting to get to Formula 1 as soon as possible,” said Hamilton.
“Then when I got there I wanted to win as soon as possible and beat the champion I was racing against, so it’s very very similar, so I see much of myself in Charles.
“And he’s doing a great job already so far, with really high expectations at a huge team like Ferrari.
“He’s driving so well, he just has to keep doing what he’s doing, it’ll come to him.”
When asked whether he felt Ferrari’s decision to back Vettel was justified, Hamilton said: “It’s not my decision to make. I don’t know.
“I don’t have to run the team and I don’t have to make decisions so it doesn’t make any difference to me. I’m fighting against both of them.”
Hamilton heads into this weekend’s Azerbaijan Grand Prix six points clear of Mercedes team-mate Valtteri Bottas, with Vettel – fourth – 31 points adrift.
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