Charles Leclerc has admitted that Lewis Hamilton has been receiving more attention than him in the team following his Ferrari onboarding. Hamilton’s arrival at Ferrari‘s Maranello base on 20 January made headlines globally, after all, a seven-time world champion was joining one of Formula One’s most iconic teams.
Leclerc acknowledges this and is at peace with his new teammate stealing the limelight. However, he pointed out that Ferrari was bigger than any driver in the sport, which makes the team more special.
The Monegasque driver looks forward to a strong start this year following an impressive 2024 season where he finished third in the Drivers’ Standings. Leclerc suggested that he is unfazed by Hamilton receiving more attention, stressing that what matters the most to him is on-track performance and helping Ferrari develop a car capable of winning championships.
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When asked if he was worried about Hamilton taking away all the attention, he told the media in Melbourne:
“No, because there’s no place for one particular driver in Ferrari. I mean, Ferrari is bigger than any driver.
“I think that’s always been the case in Ferrari. That’s what makes Ferrari so special. There’s support for the team and not for one specific driver. So I don’t think that’s the case.
“Obviously, Lewis is coming in the team as a legend of the sport. And so there’s a lot more attention on him than there is for me at the moment. But I’m completely fine with it. I completely understand that.
“And it’s normal that it’s that way. So it’s fine for me. But I don’t think there’s a competition on who needs to be the driver for Ferrari, and there won’t ever be that.”
Leclerc further explained that he has been working with Ferrari team members for 10 years, dating back to his academy days and ruling out the possibility of Hamilton receiving more attention within the team. He added:
“For me, the only thing that matters is that we are working well as a team, that we end up with a car that is good enough to be world champions and then I’ve got to do the job on track in order to be a world champion.
“But then within the team, I’m not scared of that. I don’t think about that. These are people that I’ve known since 2015 [when Leclerc joined the Ferrari Driver Academy], so I was a kid back then.
“They’ve seen me grow up, so it’s not like it’s going to change from one day to the other. It’s not a question that I’ve asked myself.
“Of course, there’s a lot of attention for Lewis at the moment. Not within the team, but outside the team, which is normal. But that doesn’t affect me.
“The only thing that matters to me is that we are working properly, that we don’t get affected by the attention that there is around the team at the moment.
“But I’m not worried about how people perceive me within the team. This is a team that I know very, very well and all these people are more than just work colleagues. That’s probably why I don’t worry.”
