Damon Hill still has one problem with Charles Leclerc even though he’s thrashing Lewis Hamilton at Ferrari

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Charles Leclerc scored Ferrari’s fourth podium of the 2025 season at the Austrian Grand Prix last weekend. Leclerc has been responsible for all of his team’s top-three finishes this year.

The Monegasque matched his best qualifying of the season by splitting the McLarens in P2. A poor start saw him fall behind Oscar Piastri, but he comfortably held onto third thereafter.

Leclerc largely appears to have extracted the maximum from a disappointing Ferrari car this season. He currently sits fifth in the world championship on 119 points.

Leclerc called Lewis Hamilton the GOAT during the Austria weekend, but he’s comfortably had the edge so far. Looking at every competitive session, the 2018 debutant is thrashing his teammate 18-6.

Damon Hill says Charles Leclerc is ‘too comfortable’ at Ferrari

Speaking to The Guardian, 1996 world champion Damon Hill dubbed Leclerc ‘super-talented and super-quick’. He’s now approaching 50 career podiums and already sits in the all-time top 20.

However, the 27-year-old is only 40th for wins (eight). He’s never won more than three Grands Prix in a single season.

His fans would justifiably argue that this reflects the limitations of his machinery. But perhaps that’s the problem – Leclerc could be ‘too comfortable’ at Ferrari.

“Oscar Piastri is interesting,” Hill said as he discussed the current stars of F1. “He has a calmness and confidence in himself that’s not overstated. Charles Leclerc is super-talented, super-quick but he’s maybe too comfortable in the Ferrari.

“Carlos Sainz Jr has got that mettle which makes him fight in whatever position you put him in.”

Lewis Hamilton and Charles Leclerc are suffering the same issue with Ferrari engineers

In a recent interview, Leclerc said he could retire at Ferrari, such was his love for the team. That was an emphatic response to recent whispers about his future.

He occupies one of the most prestigious seats on the grid, but hasn’t been able to sustain a season-long title challenge since moving to Maranello in 2019.

In addition to outright performance, Ferrari may lack the operational efficiency needed to win a championship. This was on display again in Austria, where Hamilton was denied the chance to explore an alternative strategy despite a comfortable gap to the cars behind.

Leclerc also questioned Ferrari’s engineers in Montreal as they refused to take risks. Jacques Villeneuve has called the team’s communication style ‘odd’.