There doesn’t seem to be a team with a better driver pairing than Ferrari heading into the new season. Golden boy Charles Leclerc and seven-time champ Lewis Hamilton will partner up in hopes of delivering title success to the Maranello-based outfit. One of the interesting sub-plots in this story will be the intra-team battle between the two Ferrari drivers.
Leclerc should have the advantage. He’s been with Ferrari since 2019 and knows the team inside out. Hamilton, on the other hand, will need to adapt to a new environment.
However, Bernie Collins believes that Hamilton could become the better Ferrari driver as the season progresses.
After three tough seasons at Mercedes from 2022 to 2024, Collins feels that the challenge of outperforming Leclerc on his home turf could reignite Hamilton’s mojo—something that has seemed missing for a while.
“Ferrari is going to be a challenge, beating Leclerc is going to be a challenge. So I think we’re going to see Lewis 2.0,” the ex-F1 strategist said to Sky Sports. “Since 2021 he’s not been fighting for the championship. Now we’re going to see Lewis fighting. It has all the hallmarks of a fairy tale.”
Winning again would be special for Hamilton, especially if Ferrari fields a competitive car. The last time he fought for the title was in 2021 when he lost to Max Verstappen in heartbreaking fashion on the final lap of the season finale.
Entering a new era pic.twitter.com/Jt4AGoKYn6
— Scuderia Ferrari HP (@ScuderiaFerrari) March 9, 2025
Since then, Mercedes has struggled, and Hamilton appeared to lose confidence, with his mentality coming into question.
At Ferrari, however, he has a chance for a fresh start. Driving for the most prestigious team in F1, he’ll have the opportunity to challenge Leclerc and cement his legacy by ending Ferrari’s 17-year title drought—motivation enough to reignite his game.
That said, Collins believes the seven-time world champion must overcome a key roadblock that defined his final years at Mercedes.
What Hamilton needs to focus on
With the ground effect car design, which has been around since 2022, Hamilton has struggled to adapt his driving style to maximize his one-lap qualifying pace. Last season, his teammate George Russell outqualified him 19-5—a significant defeat for the driver with the most pole positions in F1 history.
Leclerc, on the other hand, is regarded as one of the fastest drivers on the grid over a single lap.
So, to consistently challenge Leclerc on race day, Hamilton must overcome his qualifying struggles and put himself in a strong starting position. If he does that, beating Leclerc won’t be a challenge for the Stevenage-born driver, Collins stated.
“The big question is can he beat Leclerc in qualifying? Qualifying is going to be Lewis’ challenge. If he can come out rolling in the first few races it’s going to be exciting. If he gets a taste of it in the first few races he’s going to be pretty hard to stop.”
There isn’t long to go until the first chapter of Leclerc vs. Hamilton unfolds. In just four days, the two will go head-to-head at Albert Park in Melbourne for the season-opening Australian GP.
