Lewis Hamilton has been backed to get into the head of Ferrari team-mate Charles Leclerc if the seven-time F1 champion can continue his strong start to his second season with the Scuderia.
Hamilton endured a difficult debut campaign with Ferrari following his high-profile move from Mercedes, notably failing to score a grand prix podium during the season for the first time in his F1 career.
Following the major change to the rules for this year, and a shift in the development of the car more towards Hamilton's preferred driving style, the 41-year-old has started the season strongly.
Ferrari has proven itself to be the second-strongest car behind Mercedes, allowing Hamilton to finish fourth in the season-opening race in Australia, a position behind Leclerc, before turning the tables on the Monégasque in China to finally end his podium drought at 26 races with the team.
Hamilton goes into this weekend's Japanese Grand Prix one point and one place behind Leclerc in the drivers' championship, and with the support of seven-time grand prix winner Juan Pablo Montoya.
The Colombian, twice third in the drivers' standings with Williams in 2002 and 2003, can sense a different Hamilton behind the wheel this year, aided by the changes to the car and those behind the scenes within his team.
"He's hungry, he's more comfortable in the car," said Montoya, speaking to RacingNews365.
"I think his working group is a lot better than it was last year, and I think that he's got a lot more support around him this year, and that makes a lot of difference.
"That's going to pay off big dividends. If he can start beating Charles, then it's going to get into Charles' head pretty big."
Although still early in the season, and with the development race in full swing, Montoya feels Mercedes will continue to be strong over the course of the season and hold off whatever Hamilton, Leclerc and Ferrari can throw at them.
Asked whether Ferrari could catch Mercedes this season, Montoya simply replied: "No, I think Mercedes has got more in the bag."
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