Charles Leclerc has stated that there should be “enough freedom” to change the set-up of the current Ferrari Formula 1 car to adapt to a different driving style, amid Lewis Hamilton’s current problems.
The Monegasque, who is now in his seventh season with the Scuderia, has enjoyed a reasonably bright start to his season, given the lack of competitiveness from the SF-25.
He lies fifth in the Drivers’ Championship, having taken his first podium of the campaign in Saudi Arabia after a barnstorming performance.
Hamilton, on the other hand, has struggled, currently in seventh, 16 points behind, after failing to replicate his Sprint performance in China in any of the full Grands Prix so far.
The seven-time champion has admitted to struggling to adapt to the car, saying post-Bahrain that it is “alien” to him.
And before labouring to a seventh-place finish in Jeddah – half a minute behind Leclerc – the Brit said he needed a “drastic shift” in his driving style to cope with the car.
However, Leclerc told media including Motorsport Week despite apparent different perceptions from others, he believes there is still enough leeway in set-up to counteract this.
“I see lots of things around that most of the time, that driving style is super important,” he said.
“I feel like you have more than enough freedom in the car setup to adapt a car to someone’s driving style. So that doesn’t change a lot.”
‘Surprising’ driving similarities could help Ferrari ‘push’
Leclerc also said that what he sees as a similarity in their driving of the SF-25 could help the team towards its common goal of closing the gap between themselves and others near the front.
“It’s always a bit more helpful to be pushing in the same direction, because we need the same thing from a car,” he said.
“With Lewis, I was very surprised how similar we would approach the corners in corner entry.
“I don’t want to do any particular compare with other drivers, but when Lewis came, I did not expect that and we are both quite aggressive in corner entry and that means that we require the same things out of the car for sure.”
Hamilton will be hopeful that his fortunes can be reversed at the Miami Grand Prix, as the spotlight shines on him from circles both in and out of Maranello.
Red Bull advisor Helmut Marko has branded him “desperate” in his search of a faster car, with former Ferrari chairman Luca di Montezemolo claiming he will never win another championship with the team.
READ MORE – Ferrari stalwart pinpoints advantage to Charles Leclerc/Lewis Hamilton line-up
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