Ferrari’s 2025 season was disappointing from many points of view. The lack of performance from the car, the difficulties the team faced in fully understanding it, but perhaps above all seeing seven-time world champion Lewis Hamilton struggling to adapt to the SF-25 and finishing the season without even a single podium finish was what truly distressed the fans of the Maranello-based team the most.
Charles Leclerc suffered as well. He suffered a great deal. Unlike the British champion, however, Charles managed to secure seven podium finishes, ending the season with an 86-point advantage over his team-mate in the other side of the garage.
Hamilton–Leclerc comparison, Charles’ opinion
The Monegasque driver was able to do a clearly better job than Lewis over the course of the championship, and in one of the final interviews of the season he was asked what factor might have contributed to such a large difference compared to Hamilton, and whether he felt he could offer any advice to his team-mate ahead of the next season.
Charles Leclerc’s view: “My job is to maximise what is under my control. Things that concern me and the team. I have to take care of many aspects to make sure I can always drive the car at the maximum of my possibilities. For me, it is complicated to find time to dedicate even to Hamilton. Lewis has also achieved much more than I have managed to do, so I really don’t have any advice to give him,” as reported by Autosport.com.
“Joining a new team is a very long process. As far as I’m concerned, I’ve been at Ferrari for eight years now, so I know everything about the team. Everything feels natural to me, but for Lewis some things are still new. The processes, the vision, are completely different compared to his previous team. He will need a bit more time to settle in,” Charles Leclerc concluded, analysing the situation from his own point of view.
As the team looks toward the 2026 technical overhaul, the internal hierarchy at Maranello seems firmly established in Leclerc’s favor for now. While the “Hamilton effect” was expected to bring immediate results, the 2025 data serves as a reminder that even the greatest drivers in history are not immune to the challenges of a team transition. For the Tifosi, the hope remains that once the “newness” wears off, the combined talent of these two drivers will finally propel the Scuderia back to the top of the standings.
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