“Only Idol I’ve Ever Had”: Charles Leclerc Finds Another Common Trait Between Him and Lewis Hamilton

Charles Leclerc and Lewis Hamilton are arguably the best team pairing heading into the 2025 season, and they are expected to gel well, both on and off track. They have things in common to talk about — when not bothered with the busy life of F1 — in music and fashion. Now, Leclerc had found one more thing.

Leclerc and Hamilton can both bond in their love for a certain Ayrton Senna. “A legend. And not just in motorsport. He’s the only idol I’ve ever had,” said the Monegasque to Gazzetta.

Hamilton, of course, isn’t alone in hailing the three-time World Champion as his hero, but no one has carried forward his legacy quite as much as the Briton did. Senna wasn’t just a great racing driver. He was a driver of change within the sport, and known for fighting a system he felt was against him.

Hamilton, who himself has been in hot water with the FIA on several occasions over the years, would relate. He took his love for Senna to a whole new level when he drove around Interlagos with a Brazilian flag during his cooldown lap following the 2021 victory. It embodied Senna’s spirit so much that just a year later, the Brazilian government made the man from Stevenage an honorary citizen.

Sadly, Hamilton never got to meet Senna but has admitted many times he would have loved to. Leclerc too, said the same. “I would have loved to have met and spent time with Ayrton Senna. Before Interlagos I went to the Senna Foundation. I saw some of the cars he raced with, his helmets… It was a very powerful moment,” the Ferrari driver said.

Driving Senna’s car was Hamilton’s greatest honor

At the 2024 Sao Paulo GP, Hamilton got to do something Leclerc would have ideally loved to. In front of tens of thousands of Brazilians at Interlagos, Hamilton drove Senna’s iconic MP4/5B — the 1989 and 1990 title-winning car — and labeled it as the greatest honor of his glittering career.

“Hearing that sound and watching him drive here, winning that race, I just couldn’t believe that I just had that chance to do that, and it was really the greatest honor of my career,” he said to Formula 1’s official website.

Hamilton stops and picks up a Brazilian flag to wave for the final lap #F1 #BrazilGP pic.twitter.com/WwVlVo4XA9

— Phillip Horton (@PHortonF1) November 3, 2024

Now that Hamilton will be teaming up with another driver who idolizes Senna, he could pay a joint tribute. Together, if the Ferrari drivers taste success in Brazil this year, bringing out two flags to pay their respects to one of F1’s best-ever would be extremely well received by Senna’s admirers and the community as a whole.