Flavio Briatore predicts a challenging year ahead for Lewis Hamilton, facing potential humiliation by Charles Leclerc at Ferrari.
This warning comes from Flavio Briatore, a Formula 1 legend and former Renault F1 boss who remains an advisor to Fernando Alonso.
He met with Toto Wolff in a Monaco café at the very moment the Hamilton-Ferrari bombshell was dropping in February, and now predicts another season of complete domination by Red Bull and Max Verstappen in 2024.
“This year, Red Bull is even more competitive – far more than last year, with a huge gap to the others,” Briatore states.
“Verstappen is eight-tenths ahead of everyone and never makes a mistake. The synergy with Red Bull is terrifying, akin to Ayrton Senna with McLaren, Fernando Alonso with Renault, or Michael Schumacher with Ferrari.”
Ferrari, now led by Frédéric Vasseur, claims to have closed the gap to Red Bull over the winter, but Briatore remarked, “They might be the second force, but that’s not a fitting position for Ferrari.”
“The car must improve. With such gaps, no driver can make the difference.”
He is, of course, referring to Ferrari’s decision to replace Carlos Sainz at the end of the year with the seven-time world champion.
“If Hamilton were at Ferrari today, he’d be doing the same things as Leclerc, who is a fast driver, though often underestimated. But despite Hamilton’s undeniable skills, the internal competition with Leclerc could turn out to be tougher than he thinks.”
“In the end, he might struggle to stay ahead of Charles because he is among those drivers who don’t exert much effort if the car isn’t good. In the worst case, he could be humiliated.”
Hamilton Leclerc Ferrari 2025. Hamilton Leclerc Ferrari 2025
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