Hamilton's taken too long to beat Leclerc: 'It'd be the same if he'd stayed at Mercedes'

12:28, 01 May

Updated: 14:10, 01 May

byNorberto Mujica

Johnny Herbert believes Lewis Hamilton's choice to go to Ferrari was the right one, but the 7-time world champion has taken too long to beat teammate Charles Leclerc. Whether the 'Hamilton of old' will be seen at Ferrari is up to the Briton himself.

So far, Hamilton's only ever really had one success at Ferrari, the now atypical Chinese GP sprint race win. Other than that, things have gone from bad to worse, albeit a Bahrain GP midway stint provided some respite for the Briton, however short lived it may have been.

For the Saudi Arabian Grand Prix, he was, again, significantly off the pace, not of rivals, Red Bull, Mercedes and Mclaren, but also of teammate Leclerc, who went on to score Ferrari's first podium of the season.

'Hamilton's taken too long to show he's quicker than Leclerc'

Whereas a driver's acclimatisation to a team should progress, Hamilton's at Ferrari is going the wrong way, with the Briton being unable to replicate what Leclerc did when he first came to Ferrari.

“There is an element of settling in for Hamilton, but I thought he would have gotten past that by now and shown he’s quicker than Charles Leclerc. It just hasn’t happened yet," said Herbert to a betting site.

"Leclerc came into Ferrari and took the team away from Sebastian Vettel, Hamilton hasn’t quite done that yet, and Leclerc is still controlling the situation with his consistency and speed. Hamilton is consistently eighth or ninth at the moment."

However, should Hamilton have decided to stay at Mercedes, it would not be going any better, Herbert believes.

“I think if Hamilton stayed at Mercedes, George Russell would be making it hard for Lewis as Leclerc is right now. The move to Ferrari was the correct decision for a new start, but will we see the Lewis of old? That’s in his hands.”