Is Hamilton’s Age Advantage Leclerc’s Big Break?

A former Ferrari engineer suggests Charles Leclerc could exploit Lewis Hamilton’s advancing age to rise as F1’s next superstar.

Former Ferrari engineer Rob Smedley expects Charles Leclerc to rise to prominence in 2025 alongside Lewis Hamilton.

The Briton even believes that the Monegasque driver could match the seven-time F1 world champion, who celebrated his 40th birthday today.

“It’s a completely different situation, but it’s like Felipe Massa in 2006 against Michael Schumacher,” Smedley said on the Formula For Success podcast. “He was the apprentice, and it was normal for him to be beaten by Michael. Then, by the end of the year, he beat him on merit in qualifying. He even beat him in some races, albeit fortuitously.”

“I think we’re in a similar situation with Charles, and if Charles doesn’t lose focus by making too many mistakes and wasting his potential, then it’s a win-win situation.”

“You have this seven-time world champion, a guy who can learn from him, and eventually become the true champion himself. At that point, Lewis is ready to retire and exit gracefully, and now you have this fully formed world champion who will become a winning machine.”

Smedley also believes age will eventually catch up with Hamilton, something that cannot be avoided: “I think there’s another point in this timeline—and please don’t hate me for saying this because it’s purely physiological—and that’s that Lewis will start to slow down a bit. We just don’t know when that will happen.”

“It’s certainly not in the next year or two, because if you look at how strong he is mentally, how motivated he is, how physically fit he is—look at how he takes care of himself—it’s not happening anytime soon. But isn’t that a win-win situation for Ferrari? He’s going to push Charles.”

“He’ll experience a very different dynamic and relationship compared to what he had with Carlos Sainz, for instance, where they were equals, both at very similar stages of their careers, both needing to fight each other. Charles has some room to grow, facing a seven-time world champion.”