David Coulthard believes that the battle between Hamilton and Leclerc will be ”one of the greatest challenges” for the Briton
While Lewis Hamilton has already faced off against Fernando Alonso, Jenson Button, and Nico Rosberg, all of whom are world champions, David Coulthard believes that his upcoming challenge against Charles Leclerc will be just as big.
Since his arrival in F1 in 2007, Lewis Hamilton has had the opportunity to compete against the best drivers in the world, sometimes even within his own team. In his first season, he went up against Fernando Alonso, the reigning double world champion. The British driver finished with the same number of points as the Spaniard, but was classified ahead of his teammate due to a greater number of victories.
From 2010 to 2012, he teamed up with Jenson Button, except in 2011, the battle of world champions turned in Hamilton’s favor. From 2013 to 2016, number 44 faced his friend, then rival, Nico Rosberg. While the British driver won two titles against the German in 2014 and 2015, Keke Rosberg’s son clinched the championship in 2016 before announcing his retirement.
One of his biggest challenges for Hamilton
In 2025, Lewis Hamilton will join Ferrari, after spending 12 seasons with Mercedes. According to David Coulthard, the confrontation between the British and the Monegasque, within the Italian team, will be a great challenge for the seven-time world champion.
I think he will find one of his biggest challenges in facing Charles Leclerc. Charles is a young race driver and brilliantly fast. No, he doesn’t have the world championships and experience of Lewis, but I think he is a champion in the making, » explains David Coulthard in the podcast Formula For Success.
« Lewis will finish his career at Ferrari, so it’s a matter of legacy, it’s about trying to win a world championship with them. It’s his retirement plan. He can win a world championship, the eighth one, with Mercedes this year if they provide him with a race car, so he could go to Ferrari as an eight-time champion and then try to add to that with them », the Scottish driver continues.
I have already said it, in F1, and I’m sure it’s the case in other sports, you sign these marriage papers, your contract, and it’s a beautiful thing. But on the same day you sign the marriage papers, you are already preparing the divorce papers because you won’t spend your whole life together, concludes the former Red Bull driver.
