Charles Leclerc issued Lewis Hamilton demand as Ferrari warned over bold Austrian GP call

Charles Leclerc has been urged to swallow his pride and seek Lewis Hamilton's advice on how to come back from the doldrums and shine once again. Hamilton had a miserable first season for Ferrari but is purring again after his first win in red last time out in Barcelona. He's now being talked about as a title contender while team-mate Leclerc is in a slump and has suffered several crashes in recent weeks.

And now that Hamilton's success is putting Leclerc's difficulties in the spotlight, former F1 racer Juan Pablo Montoya thinks the Monegasque has been caught out by his team-mate's sudden turnaround. He told our Pit Lane Torque podcast, via BetVictor Live Casino: "I think this is a really good lesson for Charles to understand why Lewis is so f***ing good.

"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?'"

Former Williams and McLaren racer Montoya believes Hamilton, 41, would be open to helping. He has urged Leclerc to put personal pride aside and seek the seven-time world champion's counsel. If he can do so, Montoya believes it could be the extra step Leclerc needs to conquer the Formula 1 world.

He added: "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. Especially when you're younger, you don't need any help and you don't want to help anybody. You're better than anybody, screw everybody.

"At least that was my mentality. And it was the wrong mentality and it took me a long time to understand. 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."

Hamilton is second in the drivers' championship and 41 points behind current leader Kimi Antonelli. He is also 40 points better off than Leclerc who is fourth, leading some to suggest Ferrari should consider prioritising Hamilton's championship chances.

Montoya can see the benefit of favouring Hamilton's personal preferences at this point, but also pointed out that they wouldn't want to alienate Leclerc, 28, who has just agreed a new long-term contract extension. He said: "I think at this point, if Charles would say, 'I need more stability', and Lewis wants more turning, I think right now they'll put more turning in the car before more stability. But it's the nature of the beast.

"It's not an easy thing to do, because you have the future of Ferrari long term, that is Charles, but then you have a seven-time world champion in your car too. And he's starting to deliver. You're starting to see what you spend your money on. All the arguing, all the anger that Lewis had last year that he didn't feel the team was executing, I think that's changed. The approach changed, and they're seeing the results.

"And the crazy thing is the car is getting more competitive. Not only he's more happy with the car, but the car is starting to be like, they won a f***ing race. They beat the unbeatable Mercedes. So it'll be very cool to see how, in the next few races, this expands."