Former McLaren boss claims Lewis Hamilton is realizing that Charles Leclerc is 'the baby of the house' at Ferrari

Former McLaren boss Eric Boullier felt that Lewis Hamilton has begun to realize that Charles Leclerc is the key attraction at Ferrari, not him. The assessment came after the start of life at the Italian team had not been the best for the 7x champion.

The driver has been no match for teammate Leclerc, who has been dominant against him for the most part. Nine races into the season, and Lewis Hamilton has only finished once ahead of his teammate, in Imola. Even in that race, Leclerc was the much faster driver but got heavily compromised due to the late-race safety car.

Other than that, Hamilton has not threatened to beat Leclerc even once this season. This is a pattern that the driver himself might have recognized, as he has been seen apologizing to the team after races multiple times.

Talking to Racingnews365, Eric Boullier compared what was happening to Hamilton with what happened to Fernando Alonso at McLaren in 2007.

The Spaniard joined the British team, expecting to be the team leader. However, things did not turn out the way he would have wanted, as Lewis Hamilton's pace meant the squad leaned towards him. Comparing what happened in 2007 to the current situation, Boullier said:

"I remember Fernando at McLaren in 2007, and he had the impression the team was not pushing for him because the baby of the house was Lewis. Lewis is now realizing this at Ferrari, that the baby of the house is not him, it's Charles. We can see in his communication with his engineer that he's struggling a bit. It's going to take time, I guess."

Lewis Hamilton's struggles highlight difficulty in switching teams

The other theory that Eric Boullier proposed was that Lewis Hamilton's struggles have shown how tough it is to switch teams in F1. The fact that he's made the move after 12 years at Mercedes makes it even harder because the inertia is still there.

Hamilton is not the only driver who has faced this, as other drivers who have switched teams have gone through some level of difficulty. Boullier said:

"When you've won everything, and you're the GOAT, I understand the challenge, and Ferrari is Ferrari. It shows a couple of things. Changing a team is quite significant for a driver, and the higher you are, being with Mercedes for so many years and going to Ferrari, another top team, it's more difficult to adapt than switching, let's say, to a midfield team."

Lewis Hamilton will head to one of his favorite hunting grounds this weekend in Canada. The driver has won the race multiple times in his career and will hope for a better showing this time around.