Juan Pablo Montoya fears Charles Leclerc could now face same issue as Max Verstappen’s ex-teammates

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Juan Pablo Montoya has shared his concerns over the possibility of Charles Leclerc now facing the same issue as Max Verstappen’s former Red Bull teammates amid Lewis Hamilton’s strong form at Ferrari in 2026.

The seven-time world champion secured the best result of his Ferrari career so far at the most recent round of racing. His P2 at the Canadian Grand Prix also marked the Scuderia’s best result of the 2026 term after five rounds.

Should Charles Leclerc be worried about Lewis Hamilton’s upturn in form?

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Lewis Hamilton now leads Charles Leclerc 3-2 in the Ferrari head-to-head for Grand Prix finishes. He has already equalled the number of times he finished ahead of his Monegasque teammate over the course of the entire 2025 campaign.

It’s clear to see that Hamilton is a ‘rejuvenated’ figure at Maranello already this year, but former F1 driver Juan Pablo Montoya is under the impression that it may spell danger for Leclerc as he attempts to duke it out with one of the greatest to ever do it.

• READ MORE: Isack Hadjar is now asking himself the same question as Max Verstappen’s former Red Bull teammates

Juan Pablo Montoya shares concerns about Charles Leclerc if Ferrari give Lewis Hamilton ‘what he wants’

In a recent episode of the MontoyAS podcast, the Colombian theorised on a potential slippery slope for the 28-year-old as Hamilton continues to get more accustomed to the iconic Italian racing outfit’s machinery.

Leclerc was well off the pace of his vastly more experienced teammate in Montreal, with the Quebec-based circuit being well-known as an Achilles heel of the eight-time Grand Prix winner’s talents.

Some are under the impression that it was just a one-off for Leclerc, but Montoya believes it could be the start of something deeper.

“As soon as Lewis feels comfortable in the car, he’ll be driving really fast, and he wants to be able to win with Ferrari,” he said. “And here comes a little something, just a theory of mine, but it’s based on my racing experience.

“They change the car, and probably do a lot of work on the simulator and so on to make Lewis more comfortable. Lewis starts going faster, but what about Charles? The problem that happens at Red Bull happens.

“Instead of going one way with Charles and taking Lewis another way, they take the team to where the car goes fastest. The more they give Lewis what he wants, the more uncomfortable Charles is going to be because Charles comes to drive a Ferrari that’s on Lewis’ side.

“The faster Lewis goes, the more the engineers are going to tell Charles, ‘Come on, focus more on driving the car.’”

• READ MORE: Lewis Hamilton now faces a brutal reality check vs Charles Leclerc after career-best Ferrari result

Montoya then suggested how crucial it is for Leclerc’s engineers to push back on any advances towards Ferrari prioritising Hamilton over him.

“It’s very important on Charles’s side for them to say, come on, let’s go back to the drawing board, let’s take off what wasn’t working. Let’s look at our side, and let Lewis stay over there,” he added.