Ferrari’s Charles Leclerc holds the edge over Lewis Hamilton for now, but team boss Vasseur remains cautious about drawing early conclusions.
All the media hype surrounding Lewis Hamilton’s move to Ferrari is unlikely to translate into a world title.
That is the view of Dr. Helmut Marko, Red Bull’s advisor, who believes McLaren is the favorite in Melbourne, with Red Bull close behind.
“According to our calculations, Ferrari is the third-strongest team, just ahead of Mercedes.”
“And in Bahrain, Leclerc was clearly faster than Hamilton. But that’s normal. Leclerc knows the team, he knows the car.”
“Hamilton did a lot of laps and gradually improved, but he wasn’t quite at Leclerc’s level. But it’s just the beginning.”
“We know Hamilton can improve in an almost supernatural way, but it’s also possible that if the factors don’t align and he sees no chance of winning, his motivation could drop a little.”
Ferrari team boss Fred Vasseur admitted on Thursday at an event in Milan that the 2025 car was “two or three tenths” off McLaren’s pace.
“They are in a better position than us. This is the final year of the current regulations, and performance gains are becoming increasingly difficult to achieve.”
“It’s true that we scored the most points over the last eight races of 2024, but they had a real performance advantage that they didn’t exploit as much as they should have due to minor issues or missed opportunities.”
“But if we can gain two or three tenths, we will have every chance.”
Vasseur sees no risk of added pressure on Leclerc this year to secure victories if Hamilton is not at his best.
“All of this is just speculation! What do Leclerc and Hamilton have in common? They wear the same uniform. They both have a champion’s mentality, they are enthusiastic and demanding. They push the team to its limits—we need this kind of internal competition. It’s a process of emulation; performance comes from comparison.”
“When you start with a new team, it’s always a bit complex because you have to meet many new people, learn the working methods, the processes, the new steering wheel, and so on. But it went well—testing for Lewis was three intense days, but I think he is now ready for Melbourne.”
“And for Charles, from day one, I was convinced he could only benefit from Lewis’s arrival. Maybe it will take some pressure off him and allow him to focus more on himself.”
“I don’t want to make predictions. We have two top-level drivers who have shown they can win races and championships. I hope they will win a lot of races, and then in the second half of the season, we will see where we stand in the World Championship.”
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