Christian Horner identifies weakness in Ferrari’s 2025 F1 driver line-up

Christian Horner believes Ferrari’s 2025 F1 driver line-up of Charles Leclerc and Lewis Hamilton could give Red Bull and Max Verstappen an advantage in this year’s title race.

Ferrari’s all-new driver pairing for this year is widely regarded as the strongest on the 2025 F1 grid, with Hamilton making the move to Maranello from Mercedes.

Even though Hamilton endured a difficult final year with Mercedes, the 39-year-old is expected to be rejuvenated and back on form in 2025.

For Leclerc, he enjoyed his best year in F1 to date as he claimed three victories, with Ferrari narrowly missing out on the constructors’ championship.

Despite Ferrari’s strong driver line-up for this year, Horner has identified a problem they may face during the season - something that will likely not crop up at Red Bull, given Verstappen is alongside Liam Lawson.

Speaking to talkSport, Horner said: “We’re perhaps slightly different to other teams where we go: ‘Do you know what? Max Verstappen is the most valuable asset in Formula 1.

“He’s our lead driver. If you can get close to him, fantastic. But the reality is the expectation is for Max to win.

“A team like Ferrari next year, for example, are going to have two drivers that are going to be taking points off each other, and which horse do you back?

“You have to back both of them, but that sometimes becomes divisive within a team. Different teams have different approaches.”

Red Bull’s title prospects in F1 2025

Red Bull have tweaked their own driver line-up for 2025, with Lawson getting the nod over Yuki Tsunoda.

In mid-December, Red Bull announced that they had agreed to part ways with Sergio Perez after four years.

The Mexican’s worrying run of form meant that Red Bull were out of title contention going into the season-ending Abu Dhabi Grand Prix, leaving them third in the constructors’ championship.

After scoring four podiums in the opening five races, Perez failed to finish on the podium in the subsequent 19 events.

Lawson was drafted in at RB in place of Daniel Ricciardo following the Singapore Grand Prix.

While Tsunoda generally had an edge, Lawson was a close match despite his limited F1 experience.

Red Bull will be hopeful that Lawson is a considerable upgrade on Perez, given the battle at the front is expected to be even tighter in 2025, with the rules remaining stable over the winter.