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Lewis Hamilton issues 'don't want' response over key Charles Leclerc difference

Lewis Hamilton has made significant progress in his SF-25 over recent grands prix, with the biggest step yet having been made on home soil.

Lewis Hamilton confirmed after qualifying fifth for the British Grand Prix that he does not "want" the exact set-up being run by Charles Leclerc. In recent grands prix, the seven-time world champion has moved closer to his Ferrari team-mate's set-up, having often found himself adrift of him.  Despite having moved closer to what Leclerc is running on his SF-25, it remains not identical, with Hamilton insistent that he does not want his car set-up exactly how Leclerc's is.  So far, it has worked to his advantage at Silverstone, having topped first practice, Q2 and qualified ahead of Leclerc.  Hamilton qualified exactly one-tenth adrift of Oscar Piastri in second, highlighting the progress made by the 40-year-old.  Had it not been for understeer in the final corners on his last Q3 lap, the 105-time race winner would have secured a front row start alongside Max Verstappen. With a mixed weather race looking likely following torrential rainfall, Hamilton will fancy his chances of a 10th British GP win. When asked if his set-up was similar to Leclerc's, Hamilton told select media including RacingNews365 : "We're not far apart. We're not far apart. "Our setups are different, but more using that [same] method. So it's more in that direction, but he is on a different setup.  "He's got something quite a bit different to me, which I don't want to go to, but I was happy with my car. Yeah."

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