It is hard to believe that a whole season has already passed since Sir Lewis Hamilton announced the news that he would be joining Ferrari from the 2025 season onwards. The stunning news that the seven-time world champion had signed with one of Formula One’s marquee teams, fulfilling a dream in doing so, also meant a season of waiting and wondering for F1 fans with more scrutiny placed on the scarlet outfit to see what car the Maranello based team would be supplying Hamilton with in his attempt to win a history-making eighth world championship.
While the initial clamour naturally surrounded Hamilton’s decision to leave Mercedes after twelve trophy-laden seasons with the eight-time constructors champions, thoughts began to turn to the impact on Hamilton’s future teammate Charles Leclerc. With the Monegasque driver retained by Ferrari over Carlos Sainz Jnr, writers and experts began to speculate how the battle between Hamilton and Leclerc would develop over the 2025 season.
Locals in Monaco will already be used to the sights of Casino de Monte Carlo, but gambling with credit on the 2025 season is as much an unknown. Overall, the 2024 season was one of the closest on recent record, with seven different drivers winning multiple races. It goes down in the history books as another resounding triumph for Max Verstappen, a fourth in a row, but the development race finally brought seven cars, forgetting the woes of Sergio Perez, into contention each race.
Although the 2024 season has been consigned to the archives, Ferrari will be optimistic going into the new season after positive strides made throughout 2024 which put them in contention for the constructor’s title right until the final chequered flag in Abu Dhabi. And with a blockbuster driver’s lineup already confirmed back in February, the anticipation now turns to excitement ahead of the battle between the Brit and the Monegasque.
Hamilton vs Leclerc: Head-to-Head
World Championships: 7 – 0
Race Wins: 105 – 8
Podium Finishes: 202 – 43
Pole Positions: 104 – 26
Race Starts: 356 – 147
No number one driver
One decision team principal Frédéric Vasseur needs to make, or not make, quickly, is how to manage the two drivers on the track. Formula One is a unique sport in that drivers battle for the team primarily, but also for individual glory, which produces a head-splitting dynamic for team principals. Vasseur’s man management skills are going to be tested to the maximum in 2025 with both drivers fully capable of winning the world championship.
It has historically been difficult to treat both drivers as number one, as Toto Wolff found out in 2016 when Nico Rosberg pipped Hamilton to the title after a draining season-long battle between the two. But with arguably the best lineup on the grid, can Vasseur afford to treat both drivers on equal terms?
Much improved qualifying from Hamilton
One aspect to keep an eye on at the beginning of the 2025 season is Hamilton’s performances in qualifying. Leclerc has built a reputation over the years as a brilliant qualifier, perhaps the best on the grid, while Hamilton endured struggles on Saturdays in 2024. Hamilton only qualified on the podium three times in 2024, with no pole positions. In comparison, Mercedes teammate George Russell qualified on the podium eight times, and claimed three pole positions. Hamilton will certainly need to up his qualifying game if he is to edge Leclerc.
A Ferrari title, finally?
While Verstappen romped to success, securing the title as early as Las Vegas, the constructors battle went right down to the wire, with McLaren pipping Ferrari to the trophy by a mere 14 points. The high tension was primarily down to Leclerc’s storming drive from 19th on the grid to follow teammate Sainz home in 3rd. However, the double podium was academic in the end as Lando Norris’ win ensured that the trophy went to Woking.
Nevertheless, Ferrari will still see the progression made throughout 2024 as a positive and will have their sights set on a first constructors title since 2008. In 2024, neither Ferrari driver could get the better of the McLaren pair in the driver’s standings, with Leclerc trailing Norris by 12 points and Sainz finishing in 5th place, two points behind Oscar Piastri.
But with Hamilton bringing undeniable pedigree, along with Red Bull and Mercedes confirming relatively inexperienced drivers for 2025 in Liam Lawson and Kimi Antonelli respectively, those tables could be turned by the Leclerc-Hamilton axis.
