Jolyon Palmer says Lewis Hamilton needs a teammate like Michael Schumacher to win F1 title

Follow us on Google Discover

Ferrari are facing calls to make Charles Leclerc their number two driver to maximise Lewis Hamilton’s title chances.

Hamilton closed the gap on Mercedes driver Kimi Antonelli to 41 points by winning the Barcelona-Catalunya Grand Prix last time out, with the championship leader retiring late on.

Meanwhile, Leclerc’s weekend was perhaps fatal to any title ambitions as he crashed out of Q3 then suffered a hydraulic failure in the closing laps. He is now 81 points off the pace.

Which Ferrari driver has the edge on pure SPEED?

Comment

Like or Comment

Have your say Sign-in now for free

Jolyon Palmer: Charles Leclerc isn’t a number two, but he needs to act like one

Speaking on the F1 Nation podcast, Jolyon Palmer declared that Leclerc is out of title contention after dropping too many points in the last four weekends. In Miami, he was penalised for driving in an unsafe condition after hitting the wall, which dropped him to P8, and he also found the barriers in Monaco.

So while Leclerc is far from a ‘number two driver’, imposing a temporary hierarchy could be Ferrari’s best hope of ending their title drought. Kimi Raikkonen (2007) remains their last champion.

Mercedes are considering team orders of their own after their unbeaten streak came to an end in Barcelona, but Palmer says it’s far too early for Toto Wolff to prioritise one driver.

Leclerc will be ‘begging’ for more time, but Vasseur may ultimately be forced into a difficult decision.

“There is no part of me that thinks Leclerc is a number two driver,” Palmer said. “I’ve always rated him, I think he’s one of the best on the grid, could be a champion in time to come.

What’s the BIGGEST reason for Ferrari’s F1 title drought?

It's now approaching 20 years

Comment

Like or Comment

Have your say Sign-in now for free

“It’s just not going to happen this year, because he’s had too many incidents, the reliability in Barcelona didn’t help him as well. Probably, in years to come, he’ll have a shot.

“If you just say for this year, ‘We want to put everything behind getting a Ferrari champion for the first time in aeons, can you just help us out for the rest of the year?’, I still don’t know if he’s going to agree to that, but if he could, that would be such a weapon for Ferrari, because Mercedes just cannot do that.

“If you’re Charles, what you’re saying is, ‘Fred, I think I can still do something magic, give me at least a few more weekends, I’ve been making too many errors, that’s clear to see, but if I string it together, I can win multiple races in a row.’ He’s just going to be begging for time at this stage.”

• READ MORE: Charles Leclerc’s mental coach addresses Fred Vasseur’s stance on Ferrari favouring Lewis Hamilton

Palmer then pointed to the example of the 1999 season, when two-time world champion Michael Schumacher (as he was then) acted in the best interests of the team after missing seven races with a broken leg.

Most notably, at the 1999 Malaysian GP, Schumacher gave up the lead to Eddie Irvine despite outpacing him by nearly a second in qualifying, then made a determined effort to hold up the McLarens.

Irvine ultimately missed out on the title to Mika Hakkinen by just two points, but Palmer thinks Hamilton needs a teammate with Schumacher’s attitude right now.

“1999, you had Michael Schumacher miss a load of the season with a broken leg, came back to help Eddie Irvine win the championship,” Palmer recalled. “It famously didn’t work either, but they got close. Having a number one driver helping out, it can be so effective.”