The Brit is without a race victory in over two years and has been left to battle in Formula 1’s midfield at the hands of poor Silver Arrows machinery.
Hamilton has a history of fighting with team-mates – most notably Fernando Alonso and Nico Rosberg, so it’s not hard to imagine a spectacle between himself a Leclerc.
His new Monegasque team-mate is one of the best qualifiers in Formula 1 history, meaning that at the age of 40, he will have to pull out all the stops to remain on a level playing field.
Prost: That will be very interesting
Speaking on Servus TV, four-time champion Alain Prost shared his views on the potential problems of managing a championship fight for Ferrari.
“When you don’t have the chance to win the title, maybe you don’t need a first driver,” he said. “But if you do have that chance and you want to win that title … maybe we’ll find out next year with Lewis and Charles.
“That will be very interesting. It will be very difficult for management, but on paper there will be no first driver, which is good for the sport anyway.”
The Maranello based outfit is going to need both drivers to be firing on all cylinders if they are to compete to win their first championship since 2008.
They have taken a big risk in removing settled ten-year Formula 1 veteran Carlos Sainz from the team, so they will be hoping that Hamilton can produce the goods from day one and take little time to adjust to his new surroundings.