- Leclerc points to 2 specific factors behind Hamilton’s rapid improvement at Ferrari.
- Ferrari’s 2026 car suits Hamilton’s driving style more naturally than last year’s did.
- Learning Ferrari’s internal structure gave Hamilton a measurable edge this season.
Charles Leclerc says Lewis Hamilton’s growing comfort with Ferrari’s 2026 car and his deepening knowledge of the team’s internal structure explain why the two drivers are now separated by just three points in the championship.
Leclerc made those remarks in Monaco on Thursday, where he had just signed a new contract with Ferrari. Five rounds into the season, Leclerc sits third in the standings on 75 points, with Hamilton fourth on 72.
That margin sits in sharp contrast to 2025, when Leclerc ended the year 86 points ahead of his teammate.
A car built closer to Hamilton’s window
Leclerc was direct about the mechanical side of the shift. He told Monaco Life’s Cassandra Tanti that Hamilton was often unlucky in 2025, and that this year’s car suited the seven-time champion from the moment he drove it.
“Last year was not easy for him, and I think he was unlucky on many occasions. This year, with this car, he felt comfortable straight away.” Leclerc said.
That comfort has not come as easily to Leclerc.
“For me, there has been a bit more work to do, particularly in China and Montreal. I never doubted it would be close, and that is a good thing because we push each other to unlock more performance on both sides,” the Monagasque added.
The implication is clear. The 2026 Ferrari, and perhaps these new generation of cars, is much closer to Hamilton’s natural driving style than Leclerc’s own, and that alone explains much of the swing.
Learning who to call
The second reason Leclerc offered was less about the car and more about how Hamilton now moves inside the team. Over time, the Briton has learned which of Ferrari’s roughly 1,500 staff members holds which piece of information.
“Lewis now knows the team much better,” Leclerc said. “He knows exactly which people to ask for particular information. Those may seem like small details, but at a team the size of Ferrari, with around 1,500 people, they make a big difference.”
That kind of knowledge takes time to build. In 2025, Hamilton was still finding his way around one of the sport’s largest and most complex organisations.
The relationship between the two drivers, often a flashpoint in pairings of this calibre, appears to have eased rather than soured.
Leclerc said the pair had “always gotten along extremely well,” and that the working dynamic is now “a bit smoother,” which he characterised as a positive outcome for both of them.
Pressure as a resource
Leclerc also pushed back against any reading of the situation as a problem. He described the tighter contest as something that pushes both drivers to “unlock more performance on both sides.”
The wider picture adds weight to that view. Ferrari holds a strong chassis in 2026 but trails Mercedes on engine power, leaving the Scuderia searching for every advantage it can find. A competitive internal pairing, rather than a clear hierarchy, gives the team two drivers who keep each other sharp.
For a driver who just committed his long-term future to Ferrari, Leclerc’s tone was one of calculation rather than concern. He sees a faster Hamilton not as a threat to manage, but as a tool the team can use.
