Charles Leclerc has revealed he was surprised to discover just how closely his driving style matches that of new Ferrari teammate Lewis Hamilton.
Following Hamilton’s high-profile move to Ferrari after a dominant 12-year run with Mercedes, the team has struggled early in the 2025 season, securing just one podium in the first five races — earned by Leclerc in Saudi Arabia.
Leclerc described Ferrari’s current development path as “extreme” and admitted the situation feels new to him, despite being in his seventh season with the team. However, he downplayed the challenge of adjusting driving styles to fit the car’s behavior, saying setup changes offer enough flexibility:
“I feel like you have more than enough freedom in the car setup to adapt a car to someone’s driving style. So that doesn’t change a lot,” Leclerc explained to media including RacingNews365.
What truly caught Leclerc off guard was how he and Hamilton approach corner entries in nearly identical ways:
“With Lewis, I was very surprised how similar we would approach the corners,” Leclerc said.
“We are both quite aggressive in corner entry, and that means we require the same things out of the car for sure.”
The unexpected alignment could prove crucial as Ferrari looks to climb back into championship contention this season.