Ferrari’s revival reshapes Lewis Hamilton and Charles Leclerc’s title battle
Lewis Hamilton’s resurgence has altered Ferrari’s internal balance while Charles Leclerc faces fresh questions over his role, as this issue also marks 60 years of Can-Am through the memories and photographs of Pete Lyons
As Mark Hughes has pointed out on Motor Sport’s podcasts and YouTube videos recently, the resurgence of Lewis Hamilton is not something that has happened overnight. Examination of the underlying trends and development curves show that Ferrari has been on the way to producing a car that is capable of challenging the so-far dominant Mercedes (and bringing the best out of Lewis’s driving style) for some time. And the upgrade ability it received as part of the complex ADUO rules recently will enhance that competitiveness.
It puts Ferrari – and Lewis – back into the championship spotlight and that presents an interesting challenge for team-mate Charles Leclerc in terms of how he asserts himself within the team. Stunningly fast over one lap, a narrative is beginning to emerge of Leclerc being a passenger during the development process and that Lewis has been the driving force behind the changes to the car that have made it competitive.
This is probably too simplistic but there is a danger that Leclerc finds himself taking a back seat in Ferrari’s future successes as the team consolidates around Lewis. This is just one of the fascinating threads that will play out over the course of the next few races after Lewis’s thrilling victory – his 106th – at Barcelona, which Mark discusses on page 10.
The relationship between the two megastar drivers is analysed by Edd Straw on page 58. “There was a moment when Hamilton signalled his intent on the way to that famous first grand prix victory for Ferrari during the post-qualifying press conference, pointing out what he could do that his team-mate couldn’t in response to a question about how tricky the Ferrari was to drive in the context of Leclerc’s Q3 crash.”
It is just one of the driver relationships from the current grid, and from down the years, that we examine in this issue as we look at the best team-mates in Formula 1 history.
Elsewhere, we celebrate the 60th anniversary of Can-Am, that most evocative of series. Pete Lyons, who reported on Can-Am in period, has contributed a fascinating essay on what made it so special while choosing his favourite photographs from his extensive archive. In one of his emails he signed off happily: “Thanks very much, it’s been fun revisiting that weird old passion of mine!” And ours, Pete…