Charles Leclerc: How he benefited from his Ferrari team-mate Lewis Hamilton

Lewis Hamilton has decided this year to stop relying on the Ferrari simulator for his Grand Prix preparations. The seven-time world champion explained in Miami that the virtual set-up for his car had not worked on the track and that he would therefore no longer be relying on it.

No sooner said than done – and his success proves him right. Since the first US Grand Prix of the year, the 106-time Grand Prix winner has finished on the podium four times in five races, even going so far as to win the race at the Circuit de Barcelona-Catalunya.

At Silverstone, however, he had to settle for third place after losing a position to George Russell following a pit stop during the late safety car phase. His team-mate Charles Leclerc won his home Grand Prix, celebrating his first Grand Prix victory since 2024.

Hamilton also played a part in the Monegasque’s triumph, as he revealed after the chequered flag had fallen. This was because, in his search for the right set-up for the home race, he relied on his wealth of experience, whilst Leclerc initially relied on his own simulator work. “The set-up that emerged from the simulator was clearly different from the one my engineers and I had worked out,” explained Hamilton.

The Ferrari team were surprised by their own pace at Silverstone

“And I decided to stick with the approach we normally take, whilst Charles initially relied on the simulator-based approach, but in the end he also went with my philosophy. It turned out that this was the right one,” the record-holding Grand Prix winner added proudly.

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Hamilton also revealed that Ferrari’s strong form at Silverstone had come as a surprise: “It’s outstanding that we had such good pace on this type of track. We definitely didn’t expect that. It’s great that we’ve performed so well as a team and managed to pick up so many important points – a huge thank you to the whole team for making this possible.”