Lewis Hamilton: Charles Lecerc is outperforming Sebastian Vettel

Lewis Hamilton

Hamilton: Lecerc is outperforming Vettel

The first win's in the bag now.

Matthew Scott

Monday 2 September 2019 12:00

Lewis Hamilton credited Charles Leclerc for out-performing Sebastian Vettel in his first season as a Ferrari driver, admitting the Monegasque perhaps deserved two victories before sealing a maiden F1 race win at the Belgian Grand Prix.

Having seen previous efforts from pole position end in disappointment in Bahrain and Austria, Leclerc held on to win at Spa-Francorchamps amid late pressure from Hamilton.

It was Ferrari's first victory of a dismal 2019 so far, which saw Vettel have victory in Canada taken away from him by a penalty.

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Although Vettel remains ahead of Leclerc in the drivers' standings, the younger driver has qualified ahead in each of the last six races.

And Hamilton paid tribute to Leclerc's ability to adapt to life in one of Formula 1's toastiest hot-seats alongside a multiple word champion.

"I think his results speak for themselves really," Hamilton said of Leclerc.

"It's not easy for any driver to jump into a top team, let alone Ferrari, against a four-time world champion, in the sport [with] more than double… God knows how much more experience.

"And then to, continuous, from race one out-perform, out-qualify and out-drive a four-time world champion is not easy to do. So I think that speaks for itself.

"He's been really unlucky in quite a few races this year. Could easily have been the third win today.

"So, there's a lot more greatness to come from him and I'm looking forward to seeing his growth and racing alongside him. It was fun trying to chase him. He was just a little bit too quick."

Since crashing out of his home race in Monaco, Leclerc has scored exactly 100 points to Vettel's 87.