Sphere3758 wrote: ↑06 Jan 2025, 20:28
I have always read mixed feedback on how aligned Charles and Lewis’s driving styles are. Could someone here shed some light on this topic?
And in the areas where they differ, how do you expect Ferrari to lean? I am sure the first version of the car is not changeable anymore, but talking about the upgrades.
My understanding is that Hamilton likes a fairly balanced car, perhaps with a minor bias for oversteer, while Leclerc likes cars that are extremely oversteery. He tends to underperform slightly when the balace isn’t to his liking, as indicated by the fact that Sainz would be a lot closer to (arguably equal to) Leclerc when the car balance was off.
Ferrari hasn’t really shown any kind of indication that they tailored their car development to Leclerc when Sainz was in the team, and I see no reason why they would change that approach with Hamilton there.
That is to say that the 677 will be as fast as Ferrari can make it, while the drivers will be expected to adapt to the car characteristics for the most part. Obviously they have some input on the development and setup, but generally they will be forced to adapt.