Ferrari handed damning Lewis Hamilton Charles Leclerc 'feedback' concern

Former F1 driver Derek Daly does not believe Ferrari is benefiting from its driver line-up this year due to both competitors having similar approaches.

Ferrari signed Lewis Hamilton from Mercedes, commencing a new career chapter for the seven-time world champion.

Hamilton joined Charles Leclerc at the team and entered the year hoping to challenge for the title after Ferrari narrowly missed out on a constructors' championship last season.

However, Ferrari is yet to secure a race win this campaign and Hamilton has not even bagged a podium finish across the 18 grands prix held so far.

Speaking exclusively to RacingNews365, Daly highlighted an F1 team benefits from having drivers who have two distinct styles and asserted the current Ferrari duo are too alike.

“Every team that operates at the highest levels, in my opinion, has two drivers that are opposite types of skills,” he said.

“Instant reflex, in other words, drive the wheels off anything, anytime.

“Whenever they're in the car, the car is going as fast it can possibly go. 

“And then you have a feel-sensitive driver who can read it, report on it, give feedback, the engineers rely on him and then he can develop a fast car.

“One pushes and feeds off the other. Right now, Ferrari has two instant reflex guys.

“I don't believe either driver is giving the feedback to the engineers to build a faster car, and it will not change next year.

“So with those two brilliantly fast, instant reflex guys, I don't believe they will ever get enough feedback to develop and build cars that are fast enough.”

Ferrari in the 'most trouble' of any F1 team

Hamilton joined Ferrari as the most successful driver in F1 history with more wins, podiums and pole positions than any driver.

However, the seven-time champion's struggles haven't been exclusive to this year as his final seasons with Mercedes were spent further down the pecking order.

Hamilton has signalled his excitement to see the end of the regulation cycle at the end of the campaign - but Daly does not see the situation improving for Ferrari next year.

“Ferrari is in the most trouble of any team on the grid,” Daly declared.

“I don't believe they're going to make the moves necessary to fix it. Lewis Hamilton is one of the greatest success stories F1 has ever seen.

“He is solely responsible for taking F1 to places they've never been - like the fashion world. He was the stature of a champion, unlike anybody that I remember ever.

“The way he carried himself, the way he dressed and how he drove. Those days are over. They're never going to come back.

“There is a time in every athlete's life where your instincts and reflexes are never as good as they were 15 years earlier.

“So those days are gone for Ferrari. To bring Hamilton there was a marketing decision, I have to believe, not a pure racing decision.”