It would be a fairytale start to his career at Ferrari if Lewis Hamilton went on to win his eighth title during the 2025 Formula 1 season.
Lewis Hamilton last won a drivers’ championship in 2020 and since then he and the rest of the paddock have witnessed a period of domination from Max Verstappen.
Hamilton, Charles Leclerc, Sergio Perez and Lando Norris have all finished runner-up to the Dutchman, but only the seven-time world champion has pushed him until the very end of the season.
Leclerc was nearly 150 points behind Verstappen in 2022 and was technically closer to winning the championship last year even if he finished behind Norris in the standings as well.
Ferrari made one misstep in their development in 2024 which likely cost them the constructors’ championship, but they should be on the front foot going into this year.
It’s believed that Ferrari are going to take some calculated risks with their 2025 car and while they’ll be able to quickly shift away from those changes if they don’t work, the competition is expected to be so close that any mistake could be crucial when tallying up each team and driver’s points tally at the end of the season.
One of the most fascinating aspects of the 2025 season is going to be the intra-team battle between Leclerc and Hamilton.
Leclerc and his previous teammate Carlos Sainz clashed at times, but former driver Juan Pablo Montoya, speaking on the AS Colombia YouTube channel, has told the Monegasque driver how he has to approach this season if he wants to succeed.
Juan Pablo Montoya tells Charles Leclerc to be ‘smart’ when racing against Lewis Hamilton
Speaking about how Ferrari are likely to deal with the battle between Leclerc and Hamilton, Montoya said: “Ferrari is making a very big push to be able to get the most out of Lewis.
“They see an opportunity to be world drivers’ champions again with Lewis and if Charles is smart and I have said, in my opinion, if Charles plays the game well, or if he plays Lewis’ game well and doesn’t go against that, because Charles has the tendency when things are not going well, he tries to be super pushy.
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“He’ll push and push and push and say ugly comments and then they get out and then they try to deal with it internally, and they say they’re going to talk internally, it is very different.
“When you are having those fights with a person like Carlos then with a person like Lewis.”
Frederic Vasseur could take inspiration from McLaren to deal with Lewis Hamilton and Charles Leclerc rivalry
Intra-team battles in Formula 1 have existed since the first season in 1950 and the role of any team principal is to deal with them as smoothly as possible.
Leclerc and Sainz didn’t always see eye to eye and Ferrari’s strategy calls didn’t always help matters.
Aside from Ferrari, McLaren were the other top team that occasionally had a problem between their two drivers.
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McLaren’s papaya rules didn’t always work as expected, but Andrea Stella did at least keep them both pointing in the same direction long enough to win the constructors’ championship.
Ferrari’s drivers are much more experienced and will both believe they deserve to win the championship if the car is fast enough.
Vasseur has a fantastic relationship with both and he’ll hope that is enough to keep them both onside with Ferrari appearing to be in their strongest position in years heading into the campaign.
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