Charles Leclerc warned ‘life will get harder’ after Lewis Hamilton announcement

Now we know Lewis Hamilton is not retiring, Charles Leclerc can expect a progressively harder life at Ferrari.

That is the prediction made by seven-time grand prix winner Juan Pablo Montoya. Lewis Hamilton remains committed to Ferrari and Formula 1, and with Montoya seeing a “huge effort” from Hamilton to beat Leclerc, he feels a migration towards Hamilton’s wishes will crank up the difficulty for Leclerc.

Lewis Hamilton and Ferrari: Life about to get tougher for Leclerc?

Additional reporting by Thomas Maher

F1 2025 has not been the debut season at Ferrari which seven-time World Champion Hamilton expected. He is yet to finish on the podium, is 42 points behind Leclerc, and at the Hungarian Grand Prix, hit a new low.

Hamilton was eliminated in Q2 at the Hungaroring – a venue where he claimed eight victories – while Leclerc scored his and Ferrari’s first pole position of the season. That prompted Hamilton to call himself “useless” and suggest Ferrari “change driver” as he gave a frustrated debrief to Sky F1.

Pressed on those comments the next day, he added: “There’s a lot going on in the background that’s not great.”

Such soundbites appeared ominous, added to an earlier social media post, which gave some fans reason to believe Hamilton was about to retire. Teasing an 8 August announcement, it turned out not to be a retirement message, but rather the launch of a new non-alcoholic spirit from Almave, the company which Hamilton co-founded.

So, Hamilton is not retiring. To the contrary, Montoya sees the 40-year-old pushing hard to unlock the secret to beating Leclerc.

As that process continues, Montoya believes that Hamilton is the guiding voice which Ferrari will continue to listen to. Bad news for Leclerc.

“What’s really happening is that Lewis is at a point where he wants to beat his team-mate. He’s putting in huge effort,” Montoya told AS Colombia.

“Working very hard, but the car isn’t to his liking. The engineers are starting to understand, but they still don’t fully grasp how difficult this car is to drive.

“Charles looks very quick because he can handle the car’s behaviour. I think that as Ferrari adjusts the car more to Lewis’s style and he gets comfortable, life will get harder for Charles. So far, it hasn’t been too tough for him, but we’ll see.”

Lewis Hamilton and Charles Leclerc head-to-head in F1 2025

👉 F1 2025: Head-to-head qualifying statistics between team-mates

👉 F1 2025: Head-to-head race statistics between team-mates

Hamilton revealed that during the three-week gap between Silverstone and Spa, he engaged in various meetings with senior Ferrari figures, feeding the team key documents regarding desired structural changes, and requests for the F1 2026 car.

Such an occurrence potentially adds weight to Montoya’s argument, but Leclerc laughed off suggestions that he is being frozen out of Ferrari’s development considerations.

Major change is on the way for F1 2026. Smaller, lighter cars will hit the grid, powered by new engines utilising a 50/50 split between electrical power and an internal combustion engine running on sustainable biofuel.

DRS will disappear, as active aerodynamics are embraced. The Pirelli tyres will also change, with the fronts to get 25 millimeters narrower and the rears 30mm.

“Don’t worry, I’m of course involved,” Leclerc told the media, including PlanetF1.com, when asked if he is “afraid of being left out” of the loop at Ferrari.

“I’m not creating documents on my side, but I’m definitely having meetings whenever I’m back in Maranello with the team in order to know what is the next thing we want to tackle as a team.

“But this has always been [the case], I think. Every single driver has their way of feeding back the team from what they think is right.

“I have my way, which is a different way compared to Lewis, but that doesn’t mean I’m left out and I’m definitely involved in the process.”

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