Peter Windsor explains why Ferrari have ‘made things harder’ for Charles Leclerc

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With Lewis Hamilton set to join Ferrari for the 2025 season, Charles Leclerc will have his work cut out to try and beat his teammate on track.

Ferrari is looking to recapture the glory years with Michael Schumacher by signing Lewis Hamilton, having not won a championship since 2008 or a Driver’ title since 2007 with Kimi Raikkonen.

The arrival of Hamilton is expected to inject some new life into Ferrari after a few years of disappointing results, as the seven-time world champion looks to add an eighth to his tally.

Although Ferrari recently struggled with issues that Mercedes experienced, the team has got its season back on track with a win most recently at the Italian Grand Prix.

Discussing the move on his YouTube livestream, Peter Windsor highlighted why Hamilton is set to make things harder for Leclerc and why he thinks it was better to stick with Carlos Sainz.

Lewis Hamilton to make things harder for Charles Leclerc

Hamilton has also only been beaten by a teammate three times in his career; Nico Rosberg, Jenson Button, and George Russell.

Since Leclerc joined Ferrari in 2019 he has only been beaten once by a teammate, which was Sainz during the 2021 season when the Monogasque finished seventh overall and the Spaniard was fifth.

Windsor expects it to be a tough challenge for Leclerc to beat Hamilton and warned that Ferrari is likely making it harder for him to win a title.

“If it’s a good car, Charles’ biggest rival will be Lewis Hamilton. Because it’s one thing to beat Carlos Sainz in a Ferrari, it’s quite another thing to beat Lewis Hamilton,” said Windsor.

“That’s what Ferrari wants, they want to make it as hard as possible for Charles and they have done that by signing Lewis. For me, it would’ve been better to do everything they are doing with the engineering, getting the best from Charles, and keeping Carlos in the other car. But they have Lewis, which makes the job twice as hard for Charles.”

Charles Leclerc fears ‘the worst’ for Ferrari after Italian GP

Monza was the second race win in a row for Leclerc this season after an emotional victory around the streets of Monaco earlier in the season.

His victory at Monza stunned most of the F1 paddock having made an unlikely one-stop strategy work, with second-placed Oscar Piastri admitting that he was ‘surprised’ after the race.

READ MORE: Everything you need to know about Scuderia Ferrari from team principal to factory

Leclerc and Ferrari are now third in both the Drivers’ and Constructors’ Championships, with the latter now edging closer to Red Bull in the standings.

Despite their improved form lately, Leclerc expressed some concern over his Ferrari team going forward and does not think they have made big enough steps forward to challenge for more victories.