Charles Leclerc found out on stage at the Austrian Grand Prix that he doesn’t quite get the same freedoms as his team-mate Lewis Hamilton. Being seven-time world champion has its perks and, for Hamilton, his status gave him the chance to negotiate the ability to partake in one of his favourite hobbies when thrashing out the details of his deal to join Ferrari.
It came up accidentally at the Red Bull Ring during an on-stage interview featuring the Ferrari pair. Hamilton and Leclerc were speaking in the Spielberg fanzone, with the Brit making known his love for this circuit as he expressed a desire to see it from above.
Hamilton said: “I would love to skydive here, I think it is a beautiful place. I would love to skydive into the track one day.” But that prompted a puzzled response from Leclerc who seemed surprised that his team-mate would be allowed to take part in such an activity.
The Monegasque turned to Hamilton and asked: “Does Ferrari allow you?” And Hamilton confirmed that he is indeed permitted to skydive. “They don’t with me,” Leclerc replied, which in turn surprised Hamilton who asked: “Really?” To round off the exchange, Leclerc cracked a joke: “They don’t trust me, maybe, with a parachute.”
On track, Hamilton has had a much better run than his team-mate of late. He comes into this weekend’s action in Austria as a race-winner again, having taken his first Ferrari Grand Prix victory last time out in Barcelona, which came after two more podium finishes. In contrast, Leclerc has suffered several crashes in recent weeks and failed to finish the last two races.
“When Lewis arrived, Charles was expecting this, but the Lewis he got was a guy that wasn’t happy with the car, he didn’t trust the car or anything. And [Leclerc] thought, ‘I’m this f***ing good, I should win everything’. And he is very, very good. But then Lewis kept his head down and kept working and figured it out.
“And now what Lewis is bringing to the table is making Charles really uncomfortable. I think Charles is fast enough to match him. I don’t think that’s the issue. The issue that where Charles needs to get really good is, they need to sit down and go, ‘Okay, how did Lewis transform this?’
“Would Charles be comfortable having that conversation? Are you comfortable enough to go to Lewis and say, ‘How do you do this?’ Because most people are not… But Charles should use this as a good lesson, because Charles is in Ferrari for the long term. If he can learn how Lewis transformed the team and transformed his side of the garage, I think it could make him an amazing driver and a world champion.”