Lewis Hamilton warned of new Leclerc threat in Ferrari ‘partnership’ prediction

Ralf Schumacher believes Ferrari will increasingly listen to Charles Leclerc after what he produced at the Belgian Grand Prix.

Noting that will only make life harder for Lewis Hamilton, Schumacher is urging that improvement is needed. If that does not come, he predicts the “partnership” of Hamilton and Ferrari may no longer “make sense” long term.

Charles Leclerc: The driver Ferrari need to back?

Additional reporting by Thomas Maher

Leclerc has scored all five of Ferrari’s F1 2025 podiums, his most recent coming at Spa-Francorchamps. He crossed the line third at the end of a wet-to-dry race, while Hamilton performed a recovery drive through the pack to seventh.

Leclerc appeared to gel well with the new Ferrari rear-suspension, producing a performance which had six-time grand prix winner Ralf Schumacher dishing out the praise, calling it a “perfect weekend”, Leclerc “strong under all conditions”.

So impressive was Leclerc, that Hamilton will find Ferrari increasingly following his team-mate’s guidance, Schumacher warns.

“It’s a nice trend for him and the team, but of course, it doesn’t make things any easier for Lewis, because the team will now naturally listen to him [Leclerc] even more,” Schumacher continued on the Backstage Boxengasse podcast.

“I have to say, I was criticised for saying at the beginning, give him [Hamilton] time. I think everyone has seen by now that it’s necessary, and one should not judge too soon because it takes time.

“But I wouldn’t have imagined it would have been so bad at times.

“Of course, there were also some bright spots like in China, but, all in all, it’s a bit sad to watch and yes, I’m keeping my fingers crossed for him because he has to get his act together.”

Hamilton has fallen 30 points behind Leclerc in the Drivers’ Championship, as his wait for a first Ferrari podium goes on.

Should the seven-time World Champion fail to step up his game, Schumacher hinted at major consequences.

“If the season ends like this, then I don’t know whether the partnership would still make sense in the long run,” Schumacher concluded.

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Hamilton and Ferrari in general received a boost ahead of the Hungarian Grand Prix, as a new multi-year contract for team principal Fred Vasseur was announced. His association with Hamilton stretches all the way back to Hamilton’s junior career, where he won the Formula 3 and GP2 titles under Vasseur’s watch.

Asked for his reaction to Vasseur’s new contract, Hamilton told the media, including PlanetF1.com: “You’ve heard my positive comments about Fred, so there’s nothing else to add.

“It was the right choice, Fred signed me to here and I’ve been wanting to carry on.”

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