Two days ago, Lewis Hamilton officially became Ferrari driver for the 2025 Formula 1 season. The seven-time world champion replaces Carlos Sainz, who is moving to Williams after Ferrari made room for Hamilton.

This move pairs Hamilton with Charles Leclerc, who was until now seen as the team’s number one driver. Since joining Ferrari in 2019, Leclerc has shown incredible talent but has only managed eight wins in six seasons, held back by car issues and strategy mistakes.

Former Ferrari engineer Rob Smedley sees big potential in this new partnership, comparing it to Michael Schumacher and Felipe Massa’s dynamic in 2006. Back then, Schumacher was also a seven-time champion, guiding Massa in his first year at Ferrari before retiring. Massa benefited from Schumacher’s advice and, two years later, nearly won the championship, losing to Hamilton by just one point in 2008.

Because of that, Smedley thinks Leclerc could grow in a similar way, learning from Hamilton and becoming a “fully formed world champion.”

The comparison makes sense. Hamilton is the most successful driver in F1 history, with more than 100 wins and pole positions. However, his 2024 season was challenging, as he struggled to match his Mercedes teammate George Russell in qualifying.

In Qatar, Hamilton admitted, “I’m not fast anymore,” leading to questions about how much longer he can compete at the top. Even so, his experience, race knowledge, and ability to improve the car are qualities Ferrari will find invaluable.

Speaking on the Formula For Success podcast, Smedley agreed with the suggestion that while Leclerc might be the faster Ferrari driver in 2025, Hamilton could still secure more race wins by the end of the season.

He then added: “I think there’s another point in that chronological trajectory as well – and please don’t hate me for saying it, because it’s just physiological that Lewis starts to slow down a little bit.

“When that is, we don’t know. It’s definitely not in the next year or two, because if you look at how psychologically strong he is, how motivated he is, how physically fit the guy is – look how he takes care of himself – that’s not coming anytime soon.

“But isn’t this a win-win situation for Ferrari as well? They’ve got this seven-time world champion coming in.

“He’s going to boost Charles, because Charles is in a situation where – I don’t want to call him the young apprentice – he’ll feel a very different dynamic and a very different relationship to what he felt with Carlos Sainz, for example, where they were two peers, both at very similar stages of their career and both needing to beat each other.

“Charles has got a bit of slack here: he’s up against a seven-time world champion.

“It’s a completely different situation, but it’s like Felipe Massa in 2006 against Michael Schumacher.

“He was the apprentice and it was alright that he got beat by Michael. And then, by the end of the year, he was actually beating him on merit in qualifying. He did beat him in some races fortuitously.

“I think we’ve got a similar situation with Charles. And if Charles is not the one that gets away [by making too many mistakes and wasting his potential], then it’s just a win-win situation.

“You’ve got this seven-time world champion, a guy who can learn off him, eventually become the real deal himself.

“By this point, Lewis is ready to retire and exit stage left and now you’ve got this fully formed world champion who’s going to be a winning machine.”