Ferrari have chosen their guy for F1 glory and it is not Lewis Hamilton

Lewis Hamilton and Charles Leclerc in front of an Italian flag themed background shot of the Italian GP — Photo: © IMAGO

Ferrari F1

Ferrari have chosen their guy for F1 glory and it is not Lewis Hamilton

Leclerc has delivered a Ferrari powerplay

Dan Ripley Global Editor

Professional F1 journalist and analyst

Thursday 4 June 2026 12:49

Charles Leclerc has signed a new deal with Ferrari, and given Leclerc bleeds Maranello red and is just about in every way the archetypal type of driver for the team, this shouldn't come as a surprise.

However, this news, while banal on the surface has lots of potential knock-on effects, - doubly so at a team like Ferrari.

Leclerc's new contract extension is set to take him into the 2030s and that would make him Ferrari's longest serving driver of all time should he see it out. That's significant considering he is set to break Michael Schumacher's record for the most grands prix with the team (180) and also the most seasons (11).

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Leclerc is a Ferrari guy, and has been since he walked through the door in 2019 and almost immediately on-track bullied four-time world champion Sebastian Vettel out of the team.

But for the fact Ferrari has been about as much use as a motorised wheelie bin in terms of challenging for championships, Leclerc may have already bagged a few titles to mark him out as a Ferrari legend alongside the likes of Schumacher and Gilles Villeneuve.

So Charles loves Ferrari and clearly Ferrari loves Charles. So where does this leave Lewis Hamilton?

F1 HEADLINES: Hamilton moves past Ferrari pain as contract extension announced

How does Hamilton fit at Ferrari?

For now, he is safe. Especially with his recent upturn in form at the Canadian Grand Prix where he took a career-best second place. But this is Ferrari and Hamilton may even know himself that the ground he is on is far from stable.

Heading into the Montreal weekend, the seven-time world champion was putting out cryptic messages over people 'trying to retire him.' Now he didn't elaborate on who but there is a suggestion that the message could have been intended for...Ferrari.

The 41-year-old Hamilton hasn't exactly warmed to Ferrari's way of working so far. His first season ended up in company man Riccardo Adami being binned off as his race engineer, such was their fractured relationship as he was thrashed by Leclerc.

Lewis Hamilton and Riccardo Adami never gelled at Ferrari

Lewis has also effectively given a two-finger salute to the simulation team at Ferrari by deciding he isn't going to use their gear and instead now just go off his own experience and feel.

And you know what, Hamilton is perfectly entitled to do all of the above in his quest to get the best results he can out of Ferrari. While he may now be happy with his current engineering team, Ferrari must be looking at his €60million salary, comparing his results with Leclerc and asking what all the bother is about.

Hamilton may be starting to get used to his Ferrari car but he doesn't appear to have Leclerc's family bond with the team, albeit Charles had a six-year head start.

Take his anecdote about the Ferrari team last season: 'The Italians, oh my god, there's literally a scheduled time in the day, lunch, they can never ever miss. Sometimes I go to the garage to like talk to my mechanics, I'm like, 'where is everyone?' and they reply 'They're at lunch'.'"

This doesn't sound like a driver fully in tune with the deep Italian culture at Ferrari.

Many of the Ferrari guys probably like Hamilton, can see he is just trying to do the best for himself and the team. But he isn't Leclerc.

And that means that even if Hamilton starts getting the better of the Monegasque driver, he will still never be the guy at Ferrari. Never ever.

What is the future for Hamilton at Ferrari?

Hamilton has a Ferrari deal to potentially the end of 2028 when he will be 43 years old and very much on the way down. Leclerc will likely be at his peak at this point. It's only natural for Ferrari to pour their resources into the Monegasque when it comes to development - they would be silly not to.

Leclerc's claws have just been sunk deeper into Ferrari and it is a warning shot for Hamilton heading into a huge Monaco Grand Prix where Ferrari are favourites to win for the first time in years.

If Leclerc wins, he will be impossible to ignore at Ferrari and Hamilton will face a huge political battle. Remember this is a team which has already chewed up and spat out the likes of Schumacher, Alain Prost, Kimi Raikkonen, Sebastian Vettel and Fernando Alonso.

Ferrari has never bowed to a world-class driver over the team and it will not start now.

Written by

Dan Ripley - Global Editor

I've been a massive F1 fan since the mid 1990s and continue to study the history of the sport long before that. As an experienced motor sport reporter covering F1, MotoGP and the LeMans 24 Hour race, being part of GPFans has allowed me to work with a diverse team with all sorts of different backgrounds in watching the sport and given me a greater appreciation of F1.

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F1 Lewis Hamilton Ferrari Charles Leclerc