Charles Leclerc makes unique request for Lewis Hamilton’s first Ferrari sim session

Charles Leclerc has reportedly requested to attend Lewis Hamilton’s first Ferrari simulator run at Maranello.

Hamilton is set to drive the team’s simulator for the first time on Monday as he begins preparation for the 2025 F1 season.

The seven-time world champion is then expected to make his on-track debut later this week in Ferrari’s 2022 challenger.

According to FORMULA1.IT, Leclerc wants to keep an eye on Hamilton and view his first simulator session with Ferrari.

Leclerc will want to see how Hamilton adapts to the Ferrari (virtually speaking, at least) and how he works with his new engineers.

Given Hamilton’s wealth of experience and legendary CV, Leclerc will likely be able to learn things from his new teammate ahead of a big year for both drivers.

It will be a crucial week for Hamilton to build rapport with his new teammates, learn the Ferrari steering wheel and acclimate to life in Italy.

Will Ferrari win the F1 title in 2025?

On paper, Ferrari have the strongest F1 driver line-up on the grid.

With the right machinery, the Leclerc-Hamilton combination should be able to win the F1 constructors’ championship.

Ferrari ended the year as a close challenger to McLaren, taking wins in the United States and Mexico.

However, the Ferrari still lacked in the high-speed corners compared to McLaren and Red Bull.

Ferrari will need to up their game in qualifying as well, with tyre warm-up a key weakness last year.

New signing Loic Serra has been tasked with solving their tyre woes, particularly over one lap.

While Ferrari performed better on race day, Leclerc and Carlos Sainz struggled to consistently challenge Lando Norris and Max Verstappen in qualifying.

Serra has focused on the suspension to unlock this year’s Pirelli tyres over one lap.