Ferrari will be aiming to win both championships during the 2025 Formula 1 season, but in the build-up to the first race of the year, people are only talking about one of their drivers.
Lewis Hamilton has now completed one of the most anticipated transfers in the history of the sport and will be aiming to win his record eighth title this season.
However, despite Ferrari ending last year in a stronger position than Mercedes, that doesn’t mean the British driver’s going to have an easy task in front of him.
McLaren go into the 2025 F1 season as favourites after impressing during pre-season testing.
Lando Norris and Oscar Piastri will both be desperate to take advantage of Max Verstappen no longer having the quickest car on the grid.
However, another name that needs to be considered is Charles Leclerc after a brilliant end to last season.
Leclerc has promised his fans that he’s aiming to win the championship this year and finds himself in a very strong position to make that happen.
The Monegasque driver is arguably the best qualifier on the grid and has the distinct advantage of already knowing the ins and outs of driving for Ferrari, unlike Hamilton.
However, speaking on his YouTube channel, expert and journalist Peter Windsor has identified Leclerc’s ‘soft underbelly’ that afflicts him but not Hamiton and Verstappen.
Despite this, Windsor believes that working with the seven-time world champion could help him get rid of this particular weakness.
Peter Windsor says Charles Leclerc must get over his emotions to battle Lewis Hamilton and Max Verstappen
Windsor was asked if he thinks Hamilton can live with Leclerc’s qualifying pace considering his race pace and explained: “Well, this is the question, isn’t it?
“I think if the car is a championship-winning car, which by definition means if the Ferrari is a very quick car, 80%, 85% of the time throughout the season, then I think Lewis will win races.
“I think he will outqualify Charles, but I think Charles will have the qualifying edge and Charles will probably be the driver more likely to win the world championship. But I think Lewis will outqualify Charles on occasion.
READ MORE: Ferrari driver Charles Leclerc’s life outside F1 from net worth to girlfriend
“Don’t underestimate Charles Leclerc, I’ve said for the last five years, this guy is up there with Lewis and Max in terms of his ability to drive with short corners and have the finesse to do so on a regular basis.
“Yes, he has other issues that Max doesn’t have, that Lewis doesn’t have and a lot of them are involved around his emotions and driving for Ferrari and his career path anyway.
“In Charles’ case, you could say his soft underbelly is his emotion. But as time goes on, you’ve got to assume that he’s going to get over that and he’s going to learn from Lewis.
“He’s very capable of learning from Lewis, Charles Leclerc, that’s the other scary thing from a Lewis perspective.”
Frederic Vasseur facing Charles Leclerc and Lewis Hamilton conundrum this season
Leclerc’s already finished runner-up in the drivers’ championship before but wasn’t able to sustain a title challenge against Verstappen in 2022.
He made too many mistakes that year, but last season proved that he’s improved a lot under the tutelage of team principal Frederic Vasseur.
Last year, Leclerc finally ended the curse that prevented him from winning his home race in Monaco before going on to win the Italian Grand Prix in front of the Tifosi.
READ MORE: All you need to know about Scuderia Ferrari from team principal to factory
Vasseur won’t want to name a number one driver between Hamilton and Leclerc until the very last minute.
Ferrari’s hierarchy want Hamilton to be their number one driver, but they’ll have to abandon that plan if Leclerc establishes a lead in the championship.
Leclerc has the full support of his team but isn’t the man that many want to see in the headlines and he needs to use that to motivate him in 2025.
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