10-02-2025
F1 Preview: Ferrari Dream Driver Lineup Could Be Nightmare for Opposition
F1 2025 previews: Ferrari has everything to end title drought
Ferrari hasn't won a Formula 1 Constructors' title for 17 years, but it finished 2024 in strong fashion with Charles Leclerc, and has now added seven-time champion Lewis Hamilton to its armory. Can it end its drought? In case you have been living under a rock for the past 12 months, you'll be aware that seven-time champion Lewis Hamilton has joined Ferrari on a multi-year deal, taking the place of Carlos Sainz.
Hamilton joins eight-time race winner Charles Leclerc, who is entering his seventh season at Ferrari, and has already represented Ferrari more times than all but three drivers in history.
Leclerc has started 127 times for Ferrari, and he trails just Felipe Massa (139), Kimi Raikkonen (151) and Michael Schumacher (179) on the all-time Sauber racer Zhou Guanyu has rejoined Ferrari as its reserve driver, alongside the team's long-term back-up Antonio Giovinazzi.
Zhou was part of the Ferrari Driver Academy from 2015 to 2018, before a stint with Alpine's junior scheme led to a race seat at Sauber, where he remained for three years.
Giovinazzi has worked with Ferrari since 2017 and also spent three years (2019-21) racing for Sauber. Ferrari also has its protégé Oliver Bearman competing for Vasseur is entering his third year as team principal since joining from Sauber. He has largely eradicated the mistakes and blunders that dragged the team down now that he is free from the shackles of the Scuderia's politics.
Vasseur and Hamilton have history that stretches back two decades as Hamilton raced for Vasseur's ART Grand Prix outfit in Formula 3 and GP2 in the is, obviously, Lewis Hamilton. There has been hype for a team-driver partnership like never before, with Hamilton's first visit to its Maranello base, and Fiorano test track, receiving unprecedented attention.
The first image of a suited Hamilton—with a long black overcoat draped over his shoulders—standing outside of Enzo Ferrari's famous white house, next to a Ferrari F40, understandably went viral.
The first images of Hamilton in a red suit, his helmet, driving the car for the first time were all lapped up by fans. Hamilton went on to describe his first day behind the wheel of a 2023-spec car as 'one of the best feelings of my life' and is currently in the honeymoon stage as he soaks up such moments and new experiences—but it won't always be peaks.
It is the biggest driver move in 2024 campaign was its strongest for a generation and of greater encouragement was the manner in which the team grew through the year, rebounding from its dip in the European phase of the campaign when upgrades re-introduced the dreaded bouncing.
The SF-24 was a strong car, and Ferrari could easily point to a handful of events where it squandered points that cost it a Constructors' crown (though, so too, could McLaren and Red Bull).
High downforce circuits with longer corners were a relative weakness, with Ferrari's performance at its weakest at the likes of Barcelona, Silverstone and Zandvoort—though this also improved later in the season. It's marginal gains in several areas that Ferrari needs to tackle, rather than radical overhauls or aggressive year was by far Leclerc's strongest in Formula 1 as he maximized Ferrari's most challenging weekends (Austria and Silverstone aside) and delivered when the SF-24 was on song.
A change in race engineer appeared to aid Leclerc, who is surely now ready for a sustained title run, having been the top scorer (by three points) across the second half of 2024.
Expect Leclerc, now 27, to step it up once more, while also bending the machinery to his whim in Q3, where he can often dazzle— especially at street tracks. And he will surely have renewed motivation due to the new challenge on the other side of the garage.
Hamilton, 40, is now the elder statesman among a group of kids contending for victories and titles, and he has the challenge of adapting to a new environment after a dozen seasons ensconced within Mercedes.
Last year was among Hamilton's weakest in Formula 1, as outside of the two excellent wins there were some bizarrely off-tempo displays and head-scratching mistakes, particularly during qualifying. However, a new start provides a refresh, and a chance to shoot for that desired eighth there always is at Ferrari. And to add to that existing pressure it has signed statistically the greatest ever to drive one of its cars.
Yes, it is a huge marketing boost, but they didn't sign Hamilton just to take a few the strength of the second half of the season, with Leclerc top scorer in all of Formula 1, gunning for both Drivers' and Constructors' Championships has to be a realistic ambition.
Leclerc is ready to contend for overall honors and Ferrari must aim for a Constructors' crown that it missed by just 14 points last year.
