Ferrari will pair star Charles Leclerc with seven-time F1 champion Lewis Hamilton next year – two drivers with whom boss Frederic Vasseur has long-standing relationships
Charles Leclerc joked that boss Frederic Vasseur is “not my girlfriend” after it was pointed out to him that the Ferrari chief has a pre-existing relationship with Lewis Hamilton.
The two Formula 1 stars will team up at Ferrari next season. Leclerc has been the central pillar around which the Italians have built their project, though seven-time F1 champion Hamilton certainly won’t be coming in as their number two driver.
It remains to be seen how Vasseur will deal with the challenge of keeping both happy. If Ferrari are strong enough to be in the 2025 title chase, both his drivers will want to be the one to lift the trophy at the end of the year.
Naturally, at least one will be disappointed. it may come down to how Ferrari prioritise their two drivers and, though Leclerc gets on with Vasseur very well, the Frenchman has also worked with Hamilton in the past.
When that was pointed out to the Monegasque, at the Trento Sports Festival in Italy this week, he dismissed the suggestion that his boss’ relationship with the Brit could be a danger to him and even cracked a joke about it while sitting next to Vasseur in front of alive audience, on stage during a fan event.
Leclerc said: “Ours is a special relationship, if I make a mistake he just looks at me and I know what it means. There are no filters between us. Even if in F1 it is more difficult to be ‘straight’, Frederic tells me things to my face, he is very good at refocusing me.
“But Fred is not my girlfriend! I knew about the negotiations with Lewis and, for me, having him will be an additional challenge with everything he has won. I am very happy that Hamilton is coming and I can’t wait because you can learn from every team-mate.
“For me, it will be a great opportunity to show what I can do in the car. But I have always had an excellent relationship with Carlos [Sainz]. For sure, with Lewis I will remove some doubts about certain things he can do. However, I will keep my look, he will continue with his interesting styles.”
Hamilton announced his plan to walk away from Mercedes and join Ferrari before the current season even began. And even though it was a huge move, not only for the Brit personally but also for F1 as a whole, Vasseur insists the deal did not require much work.
He said: “It wasn’t difficult actually, Ferrari has always been in his thoughts in some ways and now the stars have aligned. But he comes to win, not on holiday. And I’m convinced that we have everything to try.”
