{"id":30011,"date":"2025-02-05T04:27:52","date_gmt":"2025-02-05T09:27:52","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/motorsports\/?p=30011"},"modified":"2025-02-05T04:27:52","modified_gmt":"2025-02-05T09:27:52","slug":"hamilton-can-beat-leclerc-if-he-returns-to-usual-level-rosberg","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/motorsports\/2025\/02\/05\/hamilton-can-beat-leclerc-if-he-returns-to-usual-level-rosberg\/","title":{"rendered":"Hamilton can beat Leclerc if he returns to &#8220;usual level&#8221; &#8211; Rosberg"},"content":{"rendered":"<p><a href=\"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/motorsports\/2025\/02\/01\/why-the-start-of-2025-is-critical-for-hamilton-and-leclerc\/\" target=\"_blank\" target=\"_self\">Lewis Hamilton and Charles Leclerc<\/a> are arguably the most anticipated F1 driver line-up this century. The Ferrari duo will be under immense scrutiny this season &#8211; especially if the Scuderia successfully contend for a Championship.<\/p>\n<p>With the 2025 season approaching and winter preparations well underway, Nico Rosberg gives his verdict on Maranello&#8217;s new partnership.<\/p>\n<h2>Leclerc the favourite, Hamilton not to be underestimated<\/h2>\n<p>If anyone is to discuss the prospect of facing Lewis Hamilton in the same machinery, few are better qualified than Nico Rosberg.<\/p>\n<p>The 39-year-old spent four seasons as Hamilton&#8217;s teammate &#8211; eventually defeating the Briton to claim the 2016 Championship.<\/p>\n<p>Rosberg has spoken on numerous occasions about the mental toll of his title battles.<\/p>\n<p>Because of this, his comments about how Leclerc will rise to this new challenge are worth noting.<\/p>\n<p>According to Rosberg, it is actually <a href=\"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/motorsports\/2025\/01\/02\/leclerc-ready-to-match-verstappen-aggression-ive-got-that-in-me\/\" target=\"_blank\" target=\"_self\">Charles Leclerc<\/a> who enters this year as the favourite to lead Ferrari.<\/p>\n<p>However, he warns that Hamilton could end up changing the narrative by the final race:<\/p>\n<p><em>&#8220;Max Verstappen is above all drivers,&#8221; <\/em>he told Gazzetta dello Sport:<\/p>\n<p><em>&#8220;Perhaps the best of the young generation is George Russell, but Charles drives at a similarly high level.<\/em><\/p>\n<p><em>&#8220;Lewis, on the other hand, struggled quite a bit in 2024 and you got the impression that he didn&#8217;t know exactly why that was.&#8221;<\/em><\/p>\n<p><a id=\"EnwD9B7CT_tx6vI6zwq0kA\" class=\"gie-single\" style=\"color: #a7a7a7; text-decoration: none; font-weight: normal !important; border: none; display: inline-block;\" href=\"http:\/\/www.gettyimages.com\/detail\/2195227300\" target=\"_blank\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">Embed from Getty Images<\/a><script>window.gie=window.gie||function(c){(gie.q=gie.q||[]).push(c)};gie(function(){gie.widgets.load({id:'EnwD9B7CT_tx6vI6zwq0kA',sig:'pTAi1Ip16qidYWpmpxAIqUYQ2e6sFWREg-i3_2ZzX8s=',w:'594px',h:'395px',items:'2195227300',caption: true ,tld:'com',is360: false })});<\/script><script src='\/\/embed-cdn.gettyimages.com\/widgets.js' charset='utf-8' async><\/script><\/p>\n<h4>Rosberg: Hamilton could surprise people in 2025<\/h4>\n<p>For a multitude of reasons, the 7-time Champion&#8217;s final campaign with Mercedes was a painful one.<\/p>\n<p>Relations with <a href=\"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/motorsports\/2025\/02\/01\/toto-wolff-in-support-of-fia-crackdown-on-driver-conduct\/\" target=\"_blank\" target=\"_self\">Toto Wolff<\/a> and the Silver Arrows deteriorated as the year developed &#8211; in many ways confirming that a change in scenery at Ferrari was the right call.<\/p>\n<p>Because of this, Rosberg takes Hamilton&#8217;s recent struggles into consideration for his analysis.<\/p>\n<p>Still, the F1 Champion still believes Hamilton could end the year triumphant:<\/p>\n<p><em>&#8220;If we start from this level of knowledge, then Charles will beat Hamilton, just as George Russell beat Lewis.<\/em><\/p>\n<p><em>&#8220;But be careful, Hamilton is the greatest of all time &#8211; and I trust him to be able to return to his usual level.<\/em><\/p>\n<p><em>&#8220;Then it could easily end up with him being slightly ahead of Leclerc at the end of the year.&#8221;<\/em><\/p>\n<p><a id=\"ewsH78zvQw1zfOYkarONPA\" class=\"gie-single\" style=\"color: #a7a7a7; text-decoration: none; font-weight: normal !important; border: none; display: inline-block;\" href=\"http:\/\/www.gettyimages.com\/detail\/2195270940\" target=\"_blank\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">Embed from Getty Images<\/a><script>window.gie=window.gie||function(c){(gie.q=gie.q||[]).push(c)};gie(function(){gie.widgets.load({id:'ewsH78zvQw1zfOYkarONPA',sig:'XCUU738ygPF5NHe6QEr0QE2zNmcoKvK5wFs0h-Fe2Ro=',w:'594px',h:'396px',items:'2195270940',caption: true ,tld:'com',is360: false })});<\/script><script src='\/\/embed-cdn.gettyimages.com\/widgets.js' charset='utf-8' async><\/script><\/p>\n<h4>Unprecedented buzz for Ferrari<\/h4>\n<p>It is no shock to anyone that Ferrari have enjoyed more social media attention than anyone else this season.<\/p>\n<p>Lewis Hamilton&#8217;s appearances at Maranello (alongside his tests at Fiorano and Barcelona) have generated plenty of conversation.<\/p>\n<p><strong>READ MORE:<\/strong> <a href=\"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/motorsports\/2025\/02\/05\/verstappen-discusses-potential-le-mans-bid-with-alonso\/\" target=\"_blank\" target=\"_self\">Verstappen discusses potential Le Mans bid with Alonso<\/a><\/p>\n<p>The next few weeks represent a critical integration period for Hamilton.<\/p>\n<p>Not only is getting up to speed essential to compete with Charles Leclerc, but the 7-time Champion is well aware of Ferrari&#8217;s Championship potential.<\/p>\n<p>Should Ferrari maintain last year&#8217;s trajectory, they could be fighting for victories from round one.<\/p>\n<p>In this context, the relative performance of <a href=\"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/motorsports\/2025\/01\/16\/fred-vasseur-not-worried-about-leclerc-and-hamilton-competition\/\" target=\"_blank\" target=\"_self\">Fred Vasseur&#8217;s duo<\/a> will be of additional importance.<\/p>\n<p>With the 2026 regulations representing a complete unknown (from an aerodynamic and engine perspective), there are no guarantees the Scuderia will lead the way in just over twelve months.<\/p>\n<p>This is partly why <a href=\"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/motorsports\/2024\/12\/31\/f1-news-ferrari-become-first-team-to-pass-2025-crash-test\/\" target=\"_self\">Ferrari are working so diligently on their 2025 package<\/a>.<\/p>\n<p>Although the Italian team are no stranger to pre-season hype, this year is undoubtedly one of their best chances to reclaim the F1 title.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Lewis Hamilton and Charles Leclerc are arguably the most anticipated F1 driver line-up this century. The Ferrari duo will be under immense scrutiny this season &#8211; especially if the Scuderia successfully contend for a Championship. With the 2025 season approaching and winter preparations well underway, Nico Rosberg gives his verdict on Maranello&#8217;s new partnership. Leclerc [&hellip;]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":4927,"featured_media":30012,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_lmt_disableupdate":"no","_lmt_disable":"","sfio_featured_image":false,"sfio_embed_code":"","_ef_editorial_meta_date_first-draft-date":"","_ef_editorial_meta_paragraph_assignment":"","_ef_editorial_meta_checkbox_needs-photo":"","_ef_editorial_meta_number_word-count":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[4,3],"tags":[445,2452,465,76,26],"class_list":["post-30011","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-formula-1","category-news","tag-charles-leclerc","tag-f1-2025-season","tag-f1-news","tag-lewis-hamilton","tag-nico-rosberg"],"modified_by":"Jaden Diaz-Ndisang","_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/motorsports\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/30011","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/motorsports\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/motorsports\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/motorsports\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/4927"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/motorsports\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=30011"}],"version-history":[{"count":2,"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/motorsports\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/30011\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":30040,"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/motorsports\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/30011\/revisions\/30040"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/motorsports\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/30012"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/motorsports\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=30011"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/motorsports\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=30011"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/motorsports\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=30011"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}