Ferrari go into the 2025 Formula 1 season knowing that they’re about to attract more attention than every other team in the paddock.
Lewis Hamilton joining Ferrari after 12 seasons with Mercedes is the perfect storyline for F1.
He could go on to break Michael Schumacher’s record of most championships won with the team that made the German a Formula 1 legend.
However, Charles Leclerc will be keen to prove that he shouldn’t be written off in 2025 just because one of F1’s most iconic drivers is in the garage opposite him.
Leclerc drove superbly last season and if Ferrari hadn’t made mistakes in their development cycle midway through 2024, he would have finished ahead of Lando Norris and potentially challenged Max Verstappen.
| Position | Drivers’ Championship | Points |
| 1 |
Max Verstappen |
437 |
| 2 |
Lando Norris |
374 |
| 3 |
Charles Leclerc |
356 |
| 4 |
Oscar Piastri |
292 |
| 5 |
Carlos Sainz Jr |
290 |
| 6 |
George Russell |
245 |
| 7 |
Lewis Hamilton |
223 |
| 8 |
Sergio Perez |
152 |
| 9 |
Fernando Alonso |
70 |
| 10 |
Pierre Gasly |
42 |
Leclerc struggled to deal with Ferrari not having a front-running car in the past, but 2025 might be the year that changes.
Ferrari have launched their 2025 car at Fiorano in front of thousands of fans before pre-season testing begins on Wednesday.
Leclerc set some rapid times at Fiorano and journalist Ralf Bach, speaking on the F1 Insider YouTube channel, has spotted signs from the Monegasque driver that suggest Ferrari may have leapfrogged McLaren over the winter.
Charles Leclerc already confident in Ferrari’s 2025 Formula 1 car
Bach was asked what he had heard from Ferrari this winter ahead of the first race in Australia and said: “So, the culmination of what I’ve heard and common sense tells me that the Ferrari is to be taken very seriously.
“Leclerc achieved at Fiorano a time of 55-something [seconds] which is almost equal to the lap record set by Michael Schumacher in 2004.
“In any case, that means that Leclerc, let’s leave out the conditions, drove a lap time that he felt comfortable with in the car and that is a sign of how fast he is.
“You know that the Ferrari is definitely working pretty well and when you see everything that Ferrari has done and where they come from, it is no surprise that they are one of the favourites.
READ MORE: Ferrari driver Charles Leclerc’s life outside F1 from net worth to girlfriend
“For me, they are perhaps even the favourite at the moment, at least in the first races, maybe I am wrong but we will see.
“The interesting question will be how Leclerc and Hamilton will fare against each other.
“Leclerc is clearly at an advantage at the moment because he knows the team and has already given a bit of input, maybe not consciously, but unconsciously of what kind of car he wants in terms of building the car this year. So they have to give Hamilton time to get used to it.”
Ferrari have made important improvements to Lewis Hamilton and Charles Leclerc’s F1 car
By the time the 2024 season ended, Ferrari looked to be on the same level as McLaren and a step ahead of Red Bull and Mercedes.
McLaren have made some bold design choices with their 2025 car and if they pay off then Norris and Oscar Piastri might be tough to beat.
However, Ferrari have also taken steps forward and targeted bottlenecks in their previous design.
READ MORE: All you need to know about Scuderia Ferrari from team principal to factory
Three days of pre-season testing will give fans an indication of where Ferrari and McLaren are in comparison to each other.
Hamilton will still be getting to grips with his new surroundings which should give Leclerc a slender advantage at the beginning of the year.
He has to capitalise on that to prove to Ferrari they should back him in the 2025 championship battle with the likes of Norris and Verstappen, rather than his more experienced teammate.
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