Ferrari embrace Lewis Hamilton-Charles Leclerc rivalry: “Not scared at all”

Ferrari boss Frederic Vasseur is confident Lewis Hamilton and Charles Leclerc will push each other to perform at their best, dismissing concerns about their on-track rivalry.

Ferrari have an all-star driver line-up for 2025 following Hamilton’s decision to join the team from Mercedes.

The Italian outfit’s F1 title drought stretches back to 2008 when they last won the constructors’ championship.

Ferrari narrowly missed out on the constructors’ title last year to McLaren, finishing just 13 points behind in the standings.

However, with Hamilton joining the team, many have tipped Ferrari to be an even stronger force.

Speaking to media, including Crash.net, after the SF-25’s initial shakedown at Fiorano, Vasseur explained why he’s sure that Hamilton and Leclerc will help each other improve and that Ferrari needs two drivers performing at their best in 2025.

“Well, it’s always an opportunity and one of the skills of the driver is to try to always improve,” Vasseur said. 

“A good way to improve is also to take the experience or the performance of your teammate, because the driver is the closest to you and you can have access to the data that you can work with.

“If you are clever, you can do a step with the potential of your teammate. I’m fully, fully sure and I’m right, because we have already done two TPC and the shakedown today that it will be the case.

“Honestly, I’m not scared at all with this, because we need to have this kind of emulation. I spoke about it last year between Charles and Carlos.

“It was already the case, but as a team, if we want to perform, we need to have two drivers performing. We need to have two drivers in a kind of competition, a positive competition and a positive emulation. And I’m sure that it will be the case.”

Ferrari gear up for close F1 title battle

Ferrari emerged as McLaren’s nearest rival in the second half of last season.

After a decent start, with Ferrari winning in Australia and Monaco, their season fell apart with an upgrade package introduced at the Spanish Grand Prix.

They got their season back on track after the summer break as Leclerc won in Monza and Austin, while Sainz dominated the Mexico City GP.

With the rules remaining stable over the winter, the title battle is expected to be tighter than ever.

McLaren ended 2024 as the fastest team - and Lando Norris is widely regarded as the favourite to take the title.

Max Verstappen proved last year that he doesn’t need the outright fastest car to win races, ultimately taking his fourth title with two rounds to go.

Mercedes are confident they’ve made gains over the winter, but will it be enough to put George Russell into a title fight for the first time?