Lewis Hamilton warned as Charles Leclerc holds ‘huge advantage’ at Ferrari

Charles Leclerc's familiarity with Ferrari has been identified as a "huge advantage" in the fight against Lewis Hamilton. 

Hamilton has joined Leclerc at the Scuderia after 12 seasons at Mercedes, having used a Mercedes-Benz engine for every one of his 356 starts to date, including during his McLaren days. 

Leclerc has been groomed by Ferrari from its driver academy, competing for the Ferrari-powered Sauber in 2018 before earning promotion to the senior team for 2019, with all of his 147 starts coming with Ferrari power.

The Scuderia is firmly regarded as 'Leclerc's team' after he displaced Sebastian Vettel following that strong first season with the team, with it being built around him, and the car being adjusted to his driving traits, with former Red Bull F1 racer Christian Klien believing this is a sizeable advantage in Leclerc's favour. 

"What pressure there is on Lewis Hamilton this year," the Austrian told RacingNews365.

"He seems extremely motivated to me and has seized the big Ferrari challenge with both hands, but that doesn't mean anything yet, because in the end, it is all about the final results.

"He has to compete against Leclerc and that is not an easy task, he has been driving for Ferrari for years, and so he knows everything and everyone within the Scuderia.

"That is a huge advantage for him and it will not be easy for Hamilton to beat Leclerc, but it will be a fantastic battle. 

"Fortunately, Fred Vasseur is the team boss and he is someone who knows how to manage this, he has so much experience that he will make sure the team handle it perfectly."