Lewis Hamilton thinks he deserves some credit for Charles Leclerc winning British Grand Prix

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Lewis Hamilton has claimed that Charles Leclerc copied his setup ‘direction’ before winning the British Grand Prix on Sunday.

Hamilton had been ahead of Leclerc in the Sprint portion of the weekend. He took pole in the Friday afternoon qualifying, beating him by three places and three-tenths, and then finished second in the race while his teammate struggled to fifth.

But Leclerc’s weekend changed when the parc ferme restrictions were lifted and he was able to modify his setup. He led a Ferrari two-three in Grand Prix qualifying after a five-tenth swing in his favour and was a level above Hamilton in the race, too.

Charles Leclerc wins the British Grand Prix! Was he lucky, or was it fully deserved?

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Lewis Hamilton says Charles Leclerc copied him at Silverstone

Leclerc was over 20 seconds ahead of Hamilton when the pack was bunched up by the late safety car period. The Briton dropped off into traffic (in the form of Max Verstappen and Charles Leclerc) after serving a penalty for a false start, which contributed to the deficit.

But Hamilton also complained about understeer and told his team he couldn’t match Leclerc’s pace.

Hamilton has stopped relying on the simulator at Ferrari, and that approach initially served him well at Silverstone. But he claims Leclerc was rewarded for going in the same direction.

He said in the post-race press conference: “What gives me confidence is coming into this weekend, the simulator said that we should start in a much different place with the setup, and my engineers and I decided to stay within the direction that we would normally go.

How has the British Grand Prix changed your outlook on the F1 title race?

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“Charles started the way the sim would say to go, and then ended up [deciding that] my philosophy and the direction that I was taking was ultimately the right one, and he migrated that way.

“It’s good to see that direction that I have pushed for is paying off and that we’ve just got to continue to make changes and continue to push.”

Charles Leclerc: I stopped trying to ‘reproduce’ Lewis Hamilton’s setup

Speaking after qualifying, Leclerc gave a different account. He said that he designed his setup around his own driving style, rather than trying to copy Hamilton.

“I had two approaches recently,” he explained. “There was either the one where I just changed my driving style completely and just try and reproduce what Lewis is doing, because clearly it’s working, or keep pushing in my direction and trying to find a way around where the car just fits my driving a little bit better.

“And I went towards the second route, which was to stick with what I know worked in the past and try to find a way around with the car and with every tool that I have available inside the car.”

Leclerc is optimistic about his ‘philosophical’ changes, which he feels will have a lasting impact. He has narrowed the gap to Hamilton to 39 points in the standings, having finished ahead of him for the first time since Japan.