Helmut Marko reckons Lewis Hamilton’s motivation could be damaged if Charles Leclerc routinely trounces him in qualifying.
After a bruising final season at Mercedes, in which he was outperformed by team-mate George Russell, Hamilton insists he feels reinvigorated by his move to Ferrari, who arguably boast the most formidable driver line-up on the grid.
However, he faces a stern test against Leclerc, widely regarded as the best qualifier in the sport. And ahead of this weekend’s season-opening Australia Grand Prix in Melbourne, outspoken Red Bull advisor Marko has issued a typically no-nonsense critique of Hamilton’s chances in 2025.
“In Bahrain [testing], Leclerc was the much faster one,” Marko told sport.de. “But that’s normal. He knows the team, he knows the car. Hamilton drove a lot of laps, gradually improved, but was not quite at Leclerc’s level.”
Hamilton has had just one pole since 2021 and was routinely beaten on a Saturday by Russell last season. Marko stressed the importance of him keeping pace with Leclerc in qualifying Down Under or risk seeing his hope quickly fade.
He continued: “One is a world champion, the other is chasing his first title, but is one of the best qualifiers. And because the field is relatively close together, three or four tenths of a second difference in qualifying can make up three to five grid positions.
“And you know how difficult overtaking is these days. So from this point of view, it is crucial for Hamilton to be able to evaluate the first qualifying sessions on equal footing with Leclerc. But that’s certainly not easy.”
The Max Verstappen ally added: “Hamilton can both supernaturally improve, but it could also be that if the factors don’t fit together, he sees no chance of winning, that he then loses some of his motivation.”
While Red Bull had an underwhelming pre-season test in Bahrain, Marko said he expected more of Ferrari, who appear to be a step behind constructors’ champions McLaren. He said via GP Blog during the test: “Ferrari was a little disappointing because we expected more from them.”
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