Lewis Hamilton’s Ferrari surge pressures Leclerc, says Montoya

Lewis Hamilton’s fast start at Ferrari has cut Charles Leclerc’s advantage to a single point and raised talk about control inside the team. The seven-time champion took fourth in Australia and then a podium in China, ending a 26-race Ferrari podium drought. Juan Pablo Montoya says that run gives Hamilton the momentum to put pressure on Leclerc ahead of the Japanese Grand Prix, with Ferrari chasing Mercedes at the front.

Hamilton arrived at Ferrari with high expectations and a difficult 2025 debut. Changes to the rules and the car have since lined up with his driving style. The result is steady pace and fewer rough edges in race trim. Fourth place in Melbourne set a base. The Shanghai podium confirmed it and broke a long dry spell for Ferrari. That sequence has moved Hamilton to within one point and one place of Leclerc in the standings.

Montoya sees the shift as more than raw lap time. He says Hamilton looks hungrier, more at ease in the car, and better supported by his crew this season. In his view those factors link to repeatable results, which can apply mental pressure inside a garage. When one driver strings clean weekends together, the other feels it in qualifying, strategy calls, and tire choices. That is where Montoya believes Hamilton can get into Leclerc’s head.

The timing raises the stakes for Ferrari. Leclerc has been the team’s reference for years, but the points table is now tight. Hamilton’s form gives Ferrari two cars in contention for podiums on merit. The gap between them is down to one point, and their order in the table is separated by a single place. That sets up a close fight heading into Japan, where execution under stress can shape how each driver handles the next phase of the season. Montoya frames it as a test of mindset as much as speed.

The wider picture sets limits on how far this surge can go. Mercedes has set the pace so far, and Ferrari looks like the best of the rest. Montoya does not see Ferrari closing that gap this year. He expects the team to keep collecting solid results but not to match Mercedes for outright pace over a full weekend. That tempers talk of a title push even if the Hamilton and Leclerc battle grows sharper.

Inside Ferrari, the challenge is to keep both cars scoring while managing the pressure that comes when two drivers target the same piece of track. Montoya’s point is that confidence builds on itself. A driver who feels comfortable in the car and connected to the crew tends to turn practice into qualifying laps, and qualifying into race results. Hamilton is showing that pattern at the moment. Leclerc has the points edge for now, but he faces a team-mate with momentum.

The next rounds will test how stable that balance is. China showed Ferrari can be in the mix when conditions and execution line up. Australia showed Hamilton’s floor has risen. With the team sitting behind Mercedes in the pecking order, each weekend becomes a chance to bank points and measure progress. For now the headline is simple. Hamilton has cut the gap to Leclerc to one point, the Ferrari garage feels tighter on performance, and Montoya sees the mental game tilting toward the new arrival as the field heads to Japan.