Lewis Hamilton reveals biggest surprise about ‘Mr Ferrari’ Charles Leclerc

Lewis Hamilton says Charles Leclerc’s work ethic is the thing which has surprised him the most about his new Ferrari F1 teammate.

Seven-time world champion Hamilton has partnered Leclerc for the 2025 season after completing his blockbuster switch from rivals Mercedes following 12 years at the Silver Arrows.

Hamilton has been getting to know Leclerc better since arriving at Ferrari in late January, with the pair spending a lot of time together while conducting private pre-season tests and events building up to the new F1 season.

The 40-year-old Briton was asked what about Leclerc had surprised him most in the pre-event FIA press conference ahead of this weekend’s season-opening Australian Grand Prix.

After initially joking “besides his great hair? His eyes. I mean, he's a good looking lad!”, Hamilton said: “What surprised me most? Well, I would say work ethic. It's been really good.

“I didn't know [that before], you don't know what happens behind closed doors.

“Naturally, I think every driver works really hard, but everyone has a different method in how they achieve their ultimate performance. And it's been really interesting to see.

“It’s not too dissimilar to mine, and you just see a hard working kid just getting on with it. He's obviously been in the team a long time. It's his second team.

“Obviously the team he was with before it was relatively short there, and then he's had this amazing time at Ferrari.

“And so he is very, very, very much Mr Ferrari, and it's been really cool to work alongside him and I'm really looking forward to working alongside him for the year.”

Sainz believes Leclerc is ‘ready to win’

Hamilton has replaced Carlos Sainz at Ferrari and the Spaniard, who is now a Williams driver, joined the man who he was forced to make way for in Thursday’s press conference in Melbourne.

Leclerc arrives into 2025 off the back of his strongest and most complete season in F1 to date, having finished third in the world championship and taken three impressive victories. 

And Sainz was full of praise for his former teammate Leclerc, who he spent four seasons alongside at Ferrari.

“I think no one needs to talk about his talent and his speed. Everyone knows that,” Sainz said.

“I think he's doing an incredible job and he's part of that team growth that Ferrari has seen recently. And in that Ferrari has a great ambassador also. And also, good on him, good job.

“He's been progressing both as a driver, but also as a human being all these years and he's now probably in one of his sweetest spots of his career. He feels mature, comfortable and probably ready to win. So, let's see what they can do this year.”