Charles Leclerc believes that Lewis Hamilton’s impending move to Ferrari can only be seen as “good news” for him and the team.

In February Scuderia announced the surprise signing of the seven-time world champion just one week after Leclerc agreed to a contract extension.

Hamilton, who signed a two-year contract worth around $65 per season, will leave Mercedes after 12 seasons to replace Carlos Sainz.

And Leclerc is looking forward to the prospect of competing with the Briton week after week.

“It’s always good news when a seven-time world champion joins the team,” he told Autosport.

“Firstly, because it is super interesting and super motivating for me. Super interesting because I can learn from one of the best Formula 1 drivers of all time.

“And secondly, it’s super motivating because I’m super motivated to show what I can do against Lewis in the same car.”

Hamilton’s move to Ferrari came just a year after he turned down talks with the Italian constructor to sign a $52 million contract and agreed to a multi-year deal with Mercedes worth $130 million for 2024 and 2025.

Leclerc is not surprised by Hamilton’s move

But the agreement contained an “exit clause” which Ferrari invoked to complete one of the most surprising signings in the history of the sport.

However, Leclerc admitted that he had been informed about the possibility of such a change.

“I knew it was a possibility and that it was likely because both sides wanted to make it happen,” he said.

“When you bring a driver like Lewis Hamilton into the team, it is of course a strong signal.”

Hamilton and Leclerc’s task now is to revive a team that has increasingly lost its bearings.

Ferrari’s last drivers’ title dates back to 2008 and since joining the team in 2019, Leclerc has only finished in the top three of the drivers’ championship once.

The Monegasque achieved his only victory of the season at his home Grand Prix in May and he is still 100 points behind Max Verstappen in the drivers’ championship.

Sainz, who won the Australian Grand Prix in March, is 15 points behind his teammate.

By driving alongside Hamilton, Leclerc no longer has to bear all the expectations of helping a team to success that has had little glory of late.

At the same time Scuderia maintains an aura that no other team in Formula 1 can match.

His 16 constructors’ titles are still a record by far.

To put the number into context, Mercedes and Red Bull, the two dominant forces in the sport for the past two decades, have won 14 constructors’ titles between them.

Hamilton, meanwhile, benefited from Mercedes’ return to success over the past three months.

The 39-year-old, who has not won a single race in the past two seasons, went into the summer break after victories at Silverstone and Spa-Francorchamps – the latter, however, only after the disqualification of his Mercedes teammate George Russell.

Red Bull has won 38 of the 44 races on the calendar over the past two years, but the Milton Keynes-based team’s dominance has been curtailed by the resurgence of McLaren and Mercedes.

Ferrari has so far been unable to match the pace of its two rivals, but Hamilton’s arrival in Maranello this winter should give the team new momentum.

Can Hamilton emulate Michael Schumacher?

And the move to Ferrari would give Hamilton the chance to finally surpass Michael Schumacher’s record of seven world championship titles.

The German won five consecutive titles with Ferrari between 2000 and 2004 and remains one of the Scuderia‘s greatest heroes.

Hamilton already leads the all-time list of Formula 1 victories and pole positions and winning the eighth world championship title with Ferrari, which is a record, would be the fairytale conclusion to an incredible career.

The Briton has spoken of his admiration for Schumacher, whom he replaced at Mercedes in 2013 after the German retired for the second and final time.

Four years ago, Hamilton was speechless when he was presented with Schumacher’s helmet after equalling the German’s then record of 91 Formula 1 victories.

“After watching his dominance for so long, I didn’t think I would come anywhere close to Michael in terms of records, so it’s an incredible honour. It’s going to take some time to get used to,” he told Sky Sports.

“I remember sitting with my brother and my father every Sunday watching the races and Michael storming away.

“We watched the first half and then at the end my brother and I were upstairs playing a computer game and I was Michael. I was always Michael, he was phenomenal.”

It took the German four years to bring Ferrari back to the top of the drivers’ championship, ending a 21-year wait for the title. By the time Hamilton lines up in red for the first time, Ferrari will have waited 16 years.

The parallels couldn’t be more striking.