Charles Leclerc might have missed out on the title battle with Max Verstappen and Lando Norris in 2024, but he is likely to be in the frame in 2025.
Ferrari had just started to get on top of their car after a slow start to the season, with their upgrade at Monza yielding instant success for Leclerc and then further victories in Mexico and the US.
Leclerc has not been in a title battle since the start of 2022 when he won three of the first four races and Red Bull suffered from reliability issues. The season eventually fizzled out for Ferrari that year, as they made a series of strategic errors and also suffered from poor reliability.
With Lewis Hamilton joining the team next year, Leclerc expects Ferrari to be challenging for the title with their 2025 challenger which is set to be unveiled on 19th February.
Discussing his season with RacingNews365.nl, Leclerc believes he needs to channel his inner Max Verstappen to beat his rivals on track.
Charles Leclerc wants to channel inner Max Verstappen in 2025 title battle
Leclerc finished third in the Drivers Championship after scoring 356 points, which was just 68 points behind Verstappen who went on to win his fourth title in a row.
Verstappen’s driving was the subject of intense scrutiny throughout the year, as he pulled out all the stops to defend his title from Lando Norris. Discussing his approach to racing him in 2025, Leclerc thinks he needs to play with the rules more.
“You have to choose your fights. I feel like Max knows how to adapt to different situations. We saw that in 2024,” said Leclerc.
“There were times when he was not aggressive, but when the end of the season came and Lando knocked on the door, you saw him playing with the rules much more. I feel like I have that in me too.”
McLaren drivers told to race Max Verstappen differently in 2025
Verstappen was caught up in his fair share of incidents throughout last year involving McLaren drivers and is now close to incurring a one-race ban in the early parts of 2025.
McLaren CEO Zak Brown says his drivers will be racing Verstappen differently in 2025, as a result of the incidents.
George Russell went on a media frenzy during the build-up to the Abu Dhabi GP weekend, criticising Verstappen for being a “bully” following their spat during qualifying for the Qatar GP.
Verstappen’s driving will no doubt be under the spotlight again in 2025, as the field gets closer and chances of winning are higher.
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