Breaking news

Formula 1

Hamilton expects "a lot more greatness" from Leclerc

Lewis Hamilton has praised Charles Leclerc's ability to "continuously" outperform Sebastian Vettel at Ferrari this season and thinks Formula 1's newest winner has "a lot more greatness to come".

Scott Mitchell

Edited: Sep 2, 2019, 1:50 PM

Copy link

Share on Viber

Add as a preferred source

Lewis Hamilton, Mercedes AMG F1, 2nd position, and Charles Leclerc, Ferrari, 1st position, in the Press Conference

Leclerc fended off a late Hamilton charge in Belgium on Sunday to finally take his first grand prix victory, 11 races after a Ferrari engine problem robbed him of a win on his second start for the team.

The 21-year-old joined Ferrari this season in only his second year in F1, but immediately started troubling four-time world champion teammate Sebastian Vettel and has now outqualified him in the last six races.

Asked by Motorsport.com how well he thinks Leclerc has done to adapt to Ferrari and race at the front in F1, Hamilton said: "I think his results speak for themselves really.

"It's not easy for any driver to jump into a top team, let alone Ferrari, against a four-time world champion with God knows how much more experience.

"And then to continuously from race one, outperform, out-qualify and out-drive a four-time world champion is not easy to do.

"That speaks for itself. He's been really unlucky in quite a few races this year, it could easily have been the third win [on Sunday].

"So, there's a lot more greatness to come from him and I'm looking forward to seeing his growth and racing alongside him."

Read Also:

Leclerc started the season acknowledging Vettel was the de facto number one driver within Ferrari and said his job was to change the team's mind.

After 13 races he trails Vettel in the championship by just 12 points, and they have six podiums each.

However, Leclerc has three pole positions to Vettel's one, and has become the driver to end Ferrari's winless run in 2019, while Vettel is without a victory since last year's Belgian GP – though did cross the line first in Canada.

Hamilton said he found it "fun trying to chase" Leclerc during the Belgian GP, even though "he was just a little bit too quick".

After the first glimpse of a battle with Hamilton, Leclerc admitted he was wary of being hunted by a driver who has established himself as the most successful of his generation and one of the best in F1 history.

Asked by Motorsport.com if he was more nervous in the closing stages because of his near-miss in Austria, when Max Verstappen passed him late on, Leclerc said: "I wasn't more nervous, I've started to get used to being in that situation where I'm first and I'm chased by someone that is quicker.

"Obvious I knew it was Lewis and I knew I could not afford to do any mistakes because he will take the opportunity. But, apart from the last lap, he was never really close enough to try something."

Charles Leclerc, Ferrari SF90, leads Lewis Hamilton, Mercedes AMG F1 W10

Photo by: Sam Bloxham / LAT Images

We want your opinion!

What would you like to see on Motorsport.com?

Take our 5 minute survey.

- The Motorsport.com Team

Read and post comments

Share Or Save This Story

Copy link

Share on Viber

Previous article Red Bull raced pre-France Honda engine at Spa

Next article McLaren wants 'transparency' on Renault engine issues

Top Comments

There are no comments at the moment. Would you like to write one?

View More & Comment

Latest news

LIVE: NASCAR Cup season finale at Homestead lap-by-lap updates

NASCAR Cup

NAS NASCAR Cup

Homestead-Miami

1 min

LIVE: NASCAR Cup season finale at Homestead lap-by-lap updates

Kyle Larson wins 2026 NASCAR Cup championship with Stage 1 clinch at Homestead

NASCAR Cup

NAS NASCAR Cup

Homestead-Miami

6 min

Kyle Larson wins 2026 NASCAR Cup championship with Stage 1 clinch at Homestead

Kimi Antonelli: "Weird" spin and car instability cost F1 Brazilian GP win

Formula 1

F1 Formula 1

Sao Paulo GP

34 min

Kimi Antonelli: "Weird" spin and car instability cost F1 Brazilian GP win

Kimi Antonelli and Charles Leclerc summoned to stewards after F1 Brazilian GP

Formula 1

F1 Formula 1

Sao Paulo GP

1 h

Kimi Antonelli and Charles Leclerc summoned to stewards after F1 Brazilian GP

Feature

Discover prime content

"He really wanted it" – why Russell was furious over aborted Brazil ‘pole’ lap

Formula 1

Sao Paulo GP

By Stuart Codling

"He really wanted it" – why Russell was furious over aborted Brazil ‘pole’ lap

What we learned from Friday practice at the 2026 Brazilian GP

Formula 1

Sao Paulo GP

By Jake Boxall-Legge

What we learned from Friday practice at the 2026 Brazilian GP

How F1’s rules got to be so complex

Formula 1

By Pat Symonds

How F1’s rules got to be so complex

A water park, “not a rock star” and Toto Wolff’s words – Is Kimi Antonelli really a different F1 champion?

Formula 1

By Ronald Vording

A water park, “not a rock star” and Toto Wolff’s words – Is Kimi Antonelli really a different F1 champion?

Subscribe and access Motorsport.com with your ad-blocker.

From Formula 1 to MotoGP we report straight from the paddock because we love our sport, just like you. In order to keep delivering our expert journalism, our website uses advertising. Still, we want to give you the opportunity to enjoy an ad-free and tracker-free website and to continue using your adblocker.

You have 2 options:

Become a subscriber.
Disable your adblocker.

Subscribe now Already subscribed? Sign in here

Already disabled your adblocker?
Reload page

Manage Alerts