Charles Leclerc pinpoints one area where Lewis Hamilton is better than Sebastian Vettel

Charles Leclerc feels Lewis Hamilton's ability to brake later is better than any of his past teammates, including Sebastian Vettel and Carlos Sainz. The Monagasque driver has been the leading Ferrari man for a while now, and during this entire time he has been teamed up with some very impressive talents.

First, it was Sebastian Vettel with whom Charles Leclerc teamed up in 2019 and 2020. The 4x F1 champion was replaced by Carlos Sainz, who was part of the team from 2021 to 2024. And now, the driver is competing with Lewis Hamilton as his teammate at Ferrari.

The young driver has had a favorable record of all of these drivers and has more or less performed at a very high level in the sport. At the moment, Charles Leclerc is considered one of the best drivers in F1, and the fact that he's done so even though he's teamed up with the 7x F1 champion Lewis Hamilton is an impressive accolade.

Talking to the media, the driver was questioned about something that has surprised him the most, to which Charles Leclerc revealed that Lewis Hamilton's ability to brake later is something that's new for him. The driver revealed that he prided himself on being a late braker, and always did so compared to his former teammates. Against Hamilton, however, that's not been the case. He said,

“I expected many, many things from Lewis. Obviously joining the team and having so much success in F1, you kind of expect to see the speed, the special things, in terms of driving. So all these kind of things were expected."

He added,

“I still got surprised with the way he brakes, by example. I think how late he brakes is very impressive. In my career, I’ve always been the one braking later than my team-mates and that is a particular driving style I didn’t really see in any of my team-mates. I think Lewis is a step ahead, even more so in that direction. So that surprised me.”

Lewis Hamilton's discipline surprises Charles Leclerc

Other than the driving style, Charles Leclerc revealed that Lewis Hamilton's discipline and how he manages different things are what surprised him as well. The 7x champion often has multiple engagements that he has to take care of, and how he seamlessly manages all of it has caught the eye of the young driver. He said,

“But then for the rest, I think the rest is what surprised me the most, and it’s things that I did not expect. His discipline is very, very impressive. From outside, I obviously remember I was seeing him managing so many different things, and I was like, ‘This has to be hard.’"

He added,

"But then when you look at how organised everything is, you can understand that he’s just 200 per cent focused on racing, and then everything is super well organised for these other projects to run very smoothly, without his implications daily."

Lewis Hamilton will, however, be hoping to find more performance from the car and help bridge the gap to Leclerc this year.

Edited by Charanjot Singh Kohli