Charles Leclerc will arguably face his biggest challenge at Ferrari in 2025 with Lewis Hamilton as his teammate.
The Monegasque driver established himself as the top driver at the Maranello outfit in 2024 as he grabbed three pole positions and three wins. Leclerc finished third in the standings – narrowly missing out on second Lando Norris – 66 points ahead of his Ferrari teammate Carlos Sainz.
Heading into 2025, the 27-year-old will be one of the favourites to compete for the title, given the rise in performance from the car and his brilliant racecraft in 2024. Many fans have argued Leclerc is ‘clearly better’ than Norris – who is seen as the favourite for the title by many pundits – after he outscored the Brit in the first and last eight races of last season.
The Moegasque driver will have fresh competition on the other side of the garage this year as Sainz moves to Williams. Leclerc shared a heartfelt message to Sainz as the two officially separated as Ferrari teammates after four years.
Leclerc will be eager to stamp his authority within the team again in 2025, but he will face the daunting challenge of going up against Lewis Hamilton, who finally switches silver for red after 12 years at Mercedes.
Charles Leclerc will find it ‘difficult’ to handle Lewis Hamilton’s notoriety and popularity at Ferrari
With the Brit’s arrival, Ferrari will now have had both of F1’s seven-time world champions race for the team – the other being Michael Schumacher – and Hamilton will be keen to grab his eighth title with the Maranello outfit.
Hamilton has told Ferrari fans he is ready to get started as he hopes to put his difficulties with Mercedes last season behind him. The 39-year-old registered the lowest finish of his career in 2024 with seventh in the Drivers’ Championship.
Facing off against Leclerc will be no easy feat for Hamilton, given the Monegasque driver has been well-established with Ferrari since 2019 and is one of the fastest drivers over one lap – something the Brit struggled to manage in 2024.
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But it will be ‘difficult’ for Leclerc to face Hamilton according to former Ferrari driver Jean Ales. Not only does the latter bring seven championships and 105 wins to the team, but he also has incredible support and popularity.
This was evidenced by the Italian GP receiving record demand for tickets after Hamilton’s move to Ferrari. For Alesi, this is something that Leclerc will struggle to cope with next season.
“From Charles’ side, he has everything to gain in my opinion. It is obvious that coming with his notoriety, his popularity, it will be difficult even for Charles”, he told TG1.
Who will Ferrari favour out of Lewis Hamilton and Charles Leclerc in 2025?
Looking on paper, it would be easy to say that Leclerc should come out on top against Hamilton, given the Brit’s woes in qualifying in 2024 – he failed to reach Q3 on six occasions and only qualified on the front row once all season.
Hamilton has been honest with Frederic Vasseur about his qualifying struggles as he hopes to resolve the issue at Ferrari – and he will need to if he wants to fight with Leclerc.
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The Brit did prove in moments last season that he is still capable of race wins and fighting for championships, most notably his win at Silverstone and his stunning drive in Abu Dhabi from P16 to P4.
Going into 2025, many fans have wondered which of the two Ferrari drivers will be favoured over the other in their bid to win the title.
Ferrari are set to give Leclerc and Hamilton equal treatment and will have the freedom to battle on track. However, that may be down to the fact that Hamilton may have ‘arranged’ his contract to prevent team orders as he looks to make an impact with his new team.
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