Juan Pablo Montoya warns Charles Leclerc he’s never had a teammate like Lewis Hamilton before

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Juan Pablo Montoya has warned Charles Leclerc that Lewis Hamilton is matching him and offering a challenge he has never had with a teammate.

Fresh off signing a new contract with Ferrari ahead of his home race at the Monaco Grand Prix, Leclerc was second-best to his teammate all weekend. He hit the wall on his final run, leaving him fourth behind Hamilton in third.

During the race, the Ferrari duo were P2 and P3 after Max Verstappen stalled on the grid. They looked set for a double podium until Leclerc found the barriers on the safety car restart, with the 28-year-old blaming the brakes as he entered the final corner.

Juan Pablo Montoya warns Charles Leclerc that Lewis Hamilton is ‘matching him’ at Ferrari

Leclerc’s crash earned Hamilton another P2 finish, which has propelled him ahead of his teammate and George Russell into second in the championship.

Leclerc blasted Ferrari after the race, lamenting how they have not fixed the issues with the brakes. He now needs to bounce back, especially when his teammate is finding his feet in Maranello and getting the better of him.

Montoya does not think Hamilton is quicker than Leclerc, but he is ‘matching him’, and he believes that the Monegasque driver can only beat him when he overdrives the car.

READ MORE: Ferrari driver Charles Leclerc’s life outside F1 from net worth to girlfriend

The Colombian says Hamilton is giving Leclerc a problem he has never experienced before: “The hard thing here is the pace of the car. He’s matching, and he can beat Charles. The only way Charles can beat him is what he was doing there,” he said on F1 TV’s post-race show.

“He was overdriving the car and, I mean, you can tell, if Lewis wanted to risk the car, he probably could have found a couple more tenths, but he knows they’re not realistic tenths.

“You look at Antonelli’s lap, you would have said he can go half a second quicker. He didn’t make a single mistake, car was in line everywhere, didn’t touch any walls.

Lewis Hamilton is up to second in the drivers’ standings after the Monaco GP! Where will George Russell finish this year?

Photo by Mark Sutton – Formula 1/Formula 1 via Getty Images

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“So yes, you can say Charles, ‘Oh my god.’ I mean, I think he’s really, really quick, but I don’t think he’s had a teammate. And I think in his mind from last year, Lewis wasn’t an issue, he could beat Lewis with his eyes closed.

“And all of a sudden, we go to Canada and Lewis is really good. And then, you come to your home race, new contract, new everything, and Lewis is on pace again. You start wondering, ‘What the hell’s going on here?’ Like I would, wouldn’t you?

“I’m not saying Lewis is quicker, I agree with you, but he’s matching him.”