Lewis Hamilton and Charles Leclerc force Ferrari F1 into ‘hard decision’ already

Charles Leclerc and Lewis Hamilton have loved a harmonious relationship throughout their first few months as Ferrari team-mates, though that might quickly change

Guenther Steiner believes Ferrari should make robust calls between Charles Leclerc and newcomer Lewis Hamilton as they embark on their first season collectively.

With Hamilton aiming to deliver Ferrari again to the highest and safe an eighth world championship, and Leclerc having established himself because the workforce’s ace since outperforming Sebastian Vettel, the stakes are excessive on the Prancing Horse.

Regardless of this, the pair have maintained a stellar relationship thus far. They’ve been working intently collectively within the pre-season to extract probably the most from Ferrari’s radically up to date SF-25 automobile earlier than the aggressive motion begins.

However former Haas boss Steiner believes his previous pal Frederic Vasseur, Ferrari’s workforce principal, could have his work minimize out down the street. “Each of those drivers they drove for Fred’s F2 and F3 groups, Lewis and Charles,” he advised CNN.

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“Clearly, there will probably be occasions when Fred must take arduous choices. However I do not assume he’s afraid of it. I believe he put himself in having these two drivers in place to win a championship.”

Reflecting on Hamilton’s historical past, it’s straightforward to see the hazards of getting two aggressive team-mates each aiming for private glory. Tensions rose between Hamilton and Fernando Alonso in his early McLaren days, and later with Nico Rosberg throughout Mercedes’ turbo-hybrid period dominance.

Regardless of potential fireworks, Ferrari chief Vasseur sees inner competitors as a attainable boon for the workforce. “Nicely, it is at all times a possibility and one of many abilities of the driving force is to attempt to at all times enhance,” he stated, per the Specific.

“A great way to enhance can be to take the expertise or the efficiency of your team-mate, as a result of it is the driving force that’s the closest to you and you may have entry to the information which you could work with. If you’re intelligent, you are able to do a step with the potential of your team-mate.

“I am totally, totally positive, as a result of we already did two TPC [Testing of Previous Cars] and the shakedown in the present day, that it is going to be the case. Actually, I am not scared in any respect with this, as a result of we have to have this type of emulation.”

“I spoke about it final 12 months between Charles and Carlos [Sainz]. It was already the case, however as a workforce, if we need to carry out, we have to have two drivers performing. We have to have two drivers in a sort of competitors, a optimistic competitors and a optimistic emulation. And I am positive that it is going to be the case.”