The hunger for Formula 1 among Ferrari fans has reached extreme levels this winter, and there are two reasons for this: the potential competitiveness of the Maranello team in the 2025 F1 championship, after ending last year on a high note with a car almost on par with McLaren despite significant mid-season development difficulties, and the driver lineup set to hit the track. Charles Leclerc and Lewis Hamilton represent everything Ferrari needs to bring the World Championship, whether Constructors’ or Drivers’, back to Maranello: two giants of Qualifying, skilled in race management and on-track duels, who over the years have shown they can challenge the absolute benchmark: Max Verstappen. However, in the 2024 Formula 1 season, these giants showed cracks in terms of Qualifying performance, particularly Lewis Hamilton, who struggled terribly against his Mercedes teammate George Russell, losing 5-19 on Saturdays. If 2025 delivers a close-fought Formula 1 season like the second half of last year, being competitive in Qualifying will be crucial for everyone, and the SF-25 will need to support both drivers.
For Charles Leclerc and Lewis Hamilton, improvement is therefore needed from 2024, with car support, to be able to win consistently. Both drivers ended last season with their worst Qualifying performances against their teammates in recent times: Charles Leclerc still managed to beat Carlos Sainz 14-9, but the average gap between them narrowed. The half-tenth advantage in favor of number 16 was the result of both a strong season from Carlos Sainz and a lackluster one from Charles Leclerc, as the Monegasque struggled particularly to get the SF-24 single-seater into the right operating window, something he had always relied on in the past to build his reputation as the best qualifier on the grid in recent years. In 2024, Lewis Hamilton also had to deal with a car that was difficult for him to push to the limit, unlike his teammate. However, his 104 Formula 1 pole positions show that the seven-time Formula 1 world champion’s performances can improve in 2025.
In this regard, the SF-25 will play a crucial role: beyond its overall competitiveness, which will only become clear after the first race weekends, better Qualifying performance will be essential. Winter always brings surprises, but if teams follow a steady and trouble-free development path, the general expectation is to see McLaren and Ferrari fighting for top positions at the start of the 2025 Formula 1 championship. If the gaps remain small, track position will be crucial on Sundays, and another season with the same 2024 difficulties would make life complicated for Ferrari’s drivers. The final step the Scuderia needs to take is to be in the fight for the top positions in both Qualifying and the Race, as explained by F1 expert Andrea Vergani for autoracer.it.
Qualifying performance will also be crucial for the internal battle between Charles Leclerc and Lewis Hamilton and it will be very interesting to see who will come out on top in their first year as Ferrari teammates. If we look back to 2023, the current Ferrari duo’s Qualifying season had a completely different aspect: Charles Leclerc defeated Carlos Sainz 15-6 with an advantage of more than two-tenths, while Lewis Hamilton and George Russell “tied” 11-11, with a slight advantage for the current Mercedes driver in terms of pace. Both completed a 2024 Formula 1 season in which they demonstrated their talent over long distances: the seven-time Formula 1 world champion had a strong mid-season and managed to secure the last two wins for Mercedes, while many of the 66 points between Charles Leclerc and Carlos Sainz were earned with consistent performances on Sundays, rather than on pure lap time, as seen in 2022. Charles Leclerc’s victories in the Italian Grand Prix at the Monza circuit and then in the United States Grand Prix at the Austin circuit confirmed his growth in race management and all its aspects, where Lewis Hamilton always had the edge over George Russell during their three years together.
The impression is that in Ferrari, there will not be such a big difference in 2025 because they will be facing off head-to-head with two drivers who know how to be complete in both stages of the weekend: in this regard, it will be crucial for both to be ahead of their teammate on the grid. This will ensure clean air in case of extreme competitiveness—and the 2024 Formula 1 campaign showed how important this factor is with this generation of cars—but also proximity to rival drivers who may qualify ahead. Especially in the latter case, being the lead car will be crucial during attack phases and pit stops, because any change in positions would cost both drivers a significant amount of time. The question the track will answer is: will Charles Leclerc be the dominant figure in Qualifying as seen in recent years, or will Lewis Hamilton reclaim the status that he held for so many years?
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