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The 2025 F1 season would see Ferrari field a driver lineup of Lewis Hamilton and Charles Leclerc. Already touted by many as the best driver lineup on the grid, the Italian team is heading into the season this time around with next to no excuses. Frederic Vasseur took over the team in early 2023, and since then there has been a rebuilding process in place.
That rebuilding process should be done by now, as Vasseur has gone on an extensive recruitment drive in the last few years. That driver included bringing Lewis Hamilton to Ferrari. In 2024, the Italian team was very close to winning the constructors championship from McLaren.
Well, it fell short, and hence it has not won any silverware since 2008. The 2025 F1 season is the one where Ferrari has no excuses anymore. How do we expect the team to fare? Let's take a look.
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Biggest Strength
The biggest strength of the team appears to be the late-stage competitiveness that the car had in 2024. One could possibly argue that there's a case to be made that Ferrari was the fastest car of the second half of the season.
The fact that this came after the team had gone the wrong direction in terms of upgrades mid-season is what made it all the more impressive and showed how the squad might have a better grasp of these regulations than the other rivals.
Heading into 2025, Ferrari knows both what to do and what not to do when it comes to developing the car, and that's going to be pivotal when the battle is for the last few tenths of a second.
Biggest weakness
It has to be the supposed internal politics that goes in the background under which the team works. This team is still not run independently of the board, and there's still interference, as more often than not, either John Elkann or Benedetto Vigna do make an appearance in the hospitality, something they'd do even more when the team is in contention.
It's just the added undue pressure for Fred Vasseur, who already has a lot on his plate in terms of the kind of rivals that he has to fend off and the typical Italian media scrutiny he continues to face.
Heading into the 2025 F1 season, if a title battle is on the table, it would be important for Ferrari and Fred Vasseur that any external pressure is shielded from the team.
Ferrari driver expectations
Charles Leclerc
For Charles Leclerc, this has to be the year, isn't it? The young driver has been the backbone of the team since 2019 and has done the job admirably, even if at times the team has fallen short. His 2024 F1 season was a sign that he's more or less at the top of his game and as close to a finished product as possible.
There is, however, another layer to everything in 2025 because Leclerc would have a new teammate at Ferrari, a teammate that would attract everything towards him.
Having a 7x world champion as his teammate when he's trying to potentially fight for the title is interesting because there are intangibles like internal politics that would be involved, and how Charles deals with them is going to be very interesting.
Lewis Hamilton
Lewis Hamilton is moving to Ferrari in 2025, but if he's honest with himself, he desperately needs to hit the ground running from the first free practice. There's a likelihood of the team potentially being in contention to fight for the title, and when that happens, you do not want to be in a situation where your teammate is fighting for the title and you're not.
He's coming to his new house on the back of a disappointing season at Mercedes, and 2025 could set the tone for the partnership.
Early 2025 predictions
Since 2008, Ferrari has done a good job of disappointing a lot of its fans by fumbling things most spectacularly. The Italian team has been unable to show that it has the last 1% needed to win titles.
In terms of expectations, one should ideally see Charles Leclerc contending for the title this season for the team. Lewis Hamilton might struggle to keep up with his teammate, although the gap could potentially be smaller than what it was between him and George Russell at Mercedes.
However, the Italian team is notorious for implosions, and if we end up seeing another one, then it won't be a surprise.
