Lewis Hamilton and Charles Leclerc’s battle at Ferrari is set to be one of the main storylines of the 2025 Formula 1 season.
Ferrari is unlikely to want to give favourite status to either driver at the beginning of the year, but they could be forced to if either ends up with a significant lead in the championship.
Recent history at Ferrari suggests they would back one driver for the title based on where they were in the points table, but Leclerc and Hamilton could pose a problem considering how closely matched they are in talent.
Leclerc is the most in-form driver, having ended the 2024 season by overtaking 11 cars on the opening lap of the Abu Dhabi Grand Prix. Hamilton was also praised for his recovery drive in Abu Dhabi, so they have both shown they are hungry for success.
Leclerc is expected to have the advantage on Hamilton in qualifying, but former F1 driver Anthony Davidson has pointed out one area he thinks Hamilton will have an advantage when speaking to RacingNews365.com.
Anthony Davidson thinks Lewis Hamilton is better than Charles Leclerc at managing tyres
One of the characteristics of Hamilton’s driving while at Mercedes was his ability to get the most out of the sensitive Pirelli tyres.
Leclerc has often struggled to extend stint lengths due to taking too much out of the tyres, thereby compromising his strategy options later in the race. Davidson thinks Hamilton can achieve more in this area.
“He’ll be happy with out-qualifying Leclerc for a good handful of races, but then I am fully expecting him to match Leclerc when it comes to speed in the races and he is probably better [than Leclerc] through his own experience,” said Davidson.
“Lewis’ instinctive ability to manage tyres, he’s always had strong race pace even right through to Abu Dhabi, and it was never something he’s had to fight or struggle against, and it was just down to qualifying, but I’m fully expecting his speed to be there in the races versus Leclerc.”
Lewis Hamilton sought advice from Sebastian Vettel
Hamilton’s move to Ferrari is arguably the biggest in his career, considering he has never been with a non-English speaking team in his career.
Those at Ferrari can speak English, however, with their prominent language being Italian there are some culture differences.
Hamilton reportedly sought advice from Sebastian Vettel before joining the team, given he will also be working with his former engineer Riccardo Adami.
The seven-time world champion asked his opinion on working with Adami, who he has been spending time with during his pre-season tests at Fiorano and Barcelona.
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