Lewis Hamilton ‘looking forward’ to Ferrari rise as Mercedes driver hails Charles Leclerc

F1: Leclerc says Ferrari career has 'exceeded expectations'

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Lewis Hamilton has heaped praise on Charles Leclerc, referring to the Monegasque racer as a “leader” despite still only having turned 24 in mid-October. The seven-time world champion also had a lot of positive things to say about Leclerc’s Ferrari team, claiming he expects them to be challenging the top teams if they continue to progress.

Leclerc was a casualty as Ferrari suffered a horrible 2020 season, with the youngster finishing eighth in the standings with less than 100 points, while his far more experienced team-mate Sebastian Vettel was down in 13th.

The Monegasque has fared far better so far in 2021, and is sixth with new partner Carlos Sainz hot on his heels one place below.

Despite an anomalous 15th-placed finish in Russia, his ranking has been helped by a string of consistent results since the mid-season break.

After the rain-soaked Belgian Grand Prix was cut short, leaving him unable to improve after starting eighth, he finished fifth in the Netherlands before going one better in Monza.

And two more fourth-placed finishes have followed for Leclerc since Sochi, with good results in Turkey and the United States boosting his chances of catching Lando Norris above him in the standings.

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Hamilton has praised the improvements the Ferrari man has made, and backed him to continue on his upward trajectory going forwards.

“It’s great to see how Charles has grown, he’s become a leader in a phenomenal team,” the Briton told reporters after the United States Grand Prix.

“He’s still so young, he’s on a wonderful journey and he has the class to grow even further and become even stronger.

“Early on in his career he has shown his potential. His team is only going to progress and he is growing with it. I’m looking forward to the future when hopefully we will be racing together more.”

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Sainz has also managed to score points consistently in recent races, showing Ferrari seem to be finding more of a rhythm now after a historically poor year in 2020.

The Prancing Horse finished sixth in the constructors’ championship, their worst result in recent memory, which showed the team was a long way away from challenging for race wins and world titles as it was not so long ago.

While victories still seem to be out of reach for the Italian team – they are yet to win a race in 2021 – Hamilton believes it will not belong before they are competing at the front of the grid again.

“Of course, they have had a difficult period but they are getting stronger,” the Mercedes man continued.

“They are getting faster again and climbing up the rankings. Slowly they are catching up with the front teams.”

Leclerc and Sainz have been confirmed to continue in their roles with Ferrari next season, after enjoying much-improved fortunes compared to 2020.

The team is only three-and-a-half points behind McLaren in the race for “best of the rest” this season, with Mercedes and Red Bull once again way ahead of anyone else.

Ferrari are all-but guaranteed fourth with Alpine a long way behind, but will want to capitalise on their consistent performances of late by beating their Papaya rivals to third spot.

Beating McLaren would be a strong result for Ferrari this season, and could be the foundation of what they hope will be a more competitive year at the front in 2022

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