Leclerc told to stay vigilant for Hamilton's arrival: 'He's your enemy'
F1 News
When teammates battle with each other in the world of Formula 1, it can cause friction in the team. When those two drivers are battling each other for the World Championship, that friction can become an unstoppable and unbreakable force. Think of the battle between Lewis Hamilton and Nico Rosberg between 2014-2016, a constantly bubbling relationship. Former F1 mechanic Marc Priestley says that going into 2025, Hamilton could be involved with another when he moves to Ferrari and partners up with Charles Leclerc.
Priestley says the Leclerc and Hamilton's relationship 'could play out on track'
The 47-year-old was a former mechanic at McLaren, working at the British team from 2000 to 2009, working with many drivers over his career, which included Mika Hakkinen, David Coulthard, Fernando Alonso, and Hamilton himself in the early years of his career.
Now, with Hamilton moving to The Pracing Horse for the 2025 season to partner up with Leclerc, Priestly could see that rivalry becoming fractious if both drivers are competing for a world title. "If the Ferrari becomes the best car, that's when it becomes very tricky," said the former mechanic, speaking to OLBG.
"I've never seen a situation like that where the drivers don't fall out and cause problems within the team. It's a competitive environment, and the holy grail is the championship. If your competitor is the guy on the other side of your garage with the same overalls, he's your enemy and not your teammate. Leclerc and Hamilton will both start with massive respect for each other, but it could play out on the race track."
There have been many rumours circling that Ferrari could challenge Red Bull for the 2025 season, and the potential addition of the departing Adrian Newey from the Austrian team could boost Ferrari's title chances. Priestley continues by talking about the dynamic between the new partnership of Leclerc and Hamilton, saying "Charles Leclerc can't afford to let Lewis Hamilton come in and be the main man at Ferrari.
"Leclerc is reasonably experienced now, he has a few years under his belt and is not a rookie. If a driver accepts they're going to be the second driver of the team, you sign your own death warrant and lose performance from that. Leclerc needs to come into the team next year, thinking he'll be better than Hamilton. F1 is a sport in which a huge part is technical with that car, but a huge part is the driver's confidence in his own ability."
Priestley concluded by saying: "My experience from driving pairing, particularly new ones, is they will be best of friends in the beginning and have massive respect for each other. But that can all change if Hamilton and Leclerc are competing for a title against each other. "
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