“Everybody is a Ferrari fan.” -- Sebastian Vettel
January 22, 2025 marked the beginning of a new era in Formula One. Lewis Hamilton made his first visit to Ferrari’s headquarters in Maranello where he met staff, greeted fans, and most importantly, drove his first laps out on the track. Hamilton described his time in the cockpit of the SF-23 as, "one of the best feelings of my life."
Hamilton will be looking to engrave his name amongst driver legends such as Michael Schumacher and Niki Lauda who have won a drivers championship for the prancing horse. But the road to Lewis’ historic 8th world championship is set to be a bumpy one. One of the biggest obstacles for Hamilton will be his Monegasque teammate, Charles Leclerc. In Formula One, the first person you are compared to is your teammate since they are the only one racing against you in the same machinery. Let’s use a head to head comparison to predict which Ferrari driver will outperform the other.
QUALIFYING PACE
Lewis Hamilton: In Hamilton’s illustrious eighteen year career, his teammates have only beaten him in the qualifying head to head category two times. The first time occured in 2014 when Nico Rosberg beat Hamilton 12-7. But the second time this happened was just last season. George Russel managed to out qualify Hamilton 19-5, easily making last year Hamilton’s worst qualifying season ever. All season Hamilton was furious with the W15 as he had to wrestle with the issues that came with the car. Hamilton did show flashes of qualifying pace in Great Britain and Singapore, but the rest of the season was a struggle. Although Hamilton was hindered from certain upgrades and information from Mercedes due to him leaving the team, his results were underwhelming. With this season being Hamilton’s first year with the Scuderia, he will be hoping to make a good first impression with the team and fans.
Charles Leclrec: Leclerc is coming off a good, but not amazing qualifying season. Leclerc started off the 2024 campaign fairly strong as he reached the front row four times in the first eight races. One of those races included Leclerc’s amazing pole lap in Monaco which was vital in securing his emotional sixth Grand Prix victory. The rest of the season was extremely competitive as it seemed like it was a coin toss for who would be at the front of the field every single race weekend. Leclerc managed to snatch pole position two more times in the final stint of the season and he reached Q3 all but three times in the remaining 16 races. Leclerc also beat his former teammate Carlos Sainz in the qualifying head to head battle with a 15-8 record. Although Red Bull's Max Verstappen and McLaren’s Lando Norris dominated the qualifying scene, Leclerc managed to piece together impressive performances. One very interesting accomplishment that both Leclerc and his teammate Carlos Sainz managed to achieve is that not one of them got knocked out of Q1 last season. The only other driver who didn't get knocked out as well, was Max Verstappen. With the 2025 Formula One season possibly being even more competitive and entertaining than ever, Leclerc is willing to do whatever it takes in order to produce a standout season for the Tifosi.
RACE PACE
Lewis Hamilton: The start of the 2024 season for Mercedes was horrible at best. Lewis Hamilton didn’t even come close to a podium finish in the first eight races and he couldn’t extract anything out of the W15. But, there was a stretch in the middle of the season that lasted about six races where Hamilton was absolutely dialed in. In those six races Hamilton managed to score one hundred and eight points, achieved podium placement four times, and he added two Grand Prix victories to his name. The first victory occurred at Hamilton’s home race in Great Britain. With a combination of both an amazing strategy from the pit wall and one heck of a race from Lewis Hamilton at the British Grand Prix, things were trending in the right direction. Then just two races later, Hamilton inherited the race win from George Russel due to Russel being disqualified shortly after the race ended. This stretch of races and Hamilton’s masterclass recovery drive in Vegas where he finished second, showcased that Hamilton definitely has speed but it’s hard to find. Sir Lewis Hamilton is without a doubt one of the greatest drivers on the grid, but the question if he is a championship level driver remains to be unknown.
Charles Leclerc: Charles Leclerc had a great season regarding race pace. Leclerc racked up 13 podium positions which set a personal record for most podiums acquired in a single season by him. Leclerc was constantly at the front of the field and he was holding his own with the big guns at the top. A prime example of this was the 2024 Monza Grand Prix. Leclerc started the race in P4 which set him up for a possible podium finish, but a race win was looking a bit tricky. Once the race began Leclerc took advantage of George Russel’s lock up into turn one which put the Monegasque driver up to third place. Then only four corners later the McLarens were wheel to wheel into turn five and once Lando Norris lost traction of his car, Leclerc used his superior exit speed to overtake Norris. Ferrari’s pit wall then decided to have Leclerc only do a one stop strategy, which in the end turned out to be an astounding decision. Leclerc nurtured the hard tires for thirty eight laps while keeping the astonishingly quick McLaren’s behind him. This race proved that Charles Leclerc has the pace to not just keep up with the front of the field, but to also come out on top in the process. Leclerc will be looking to string together multiple great race results next season which will hopefully bring the Tifosi a long awaited championship.
PREDICTION
Who will be the No. 1 driver? So now that we understand how both of these drivers performed in 2024, it’s time to make a prediction as to who will score the most points this upcoming season.
I predict that eight-time race winner Charles Leclerc will have more total points than Hamilton by the end of the season. If we take away all the numbers and stats that were mentioned and just think about the aspects that can’t be shown on the stopwatch, you will notice just how much of an advantage Leclerc has over Hamilton.
The first and obvious advantage is the amount of years Charles Leclerc has been with Ferrari compared to Lewis Hamilton. Leclerc has driven in Ferrari red for the past five years. He understands how the team flows and does business like the back of his hand. He has incredible chemistry with his side of the garage due to the numerous seasons he has spent with the mechanics and pit wall crew. Hamilton on the other hand is coming in and experiencing the first day of school all over again.
Not only will Hamilton be in an entirely different car, but he will be surrounded by new mechanics and most importantly, a new race engineer. Hamilton and Bono were an unstoppable driver/race engineer duo at Mercedes as in their twelve season partnership the two won 84 Grand Prixs and six world championships.
People might think race engineers aren't all that important but they are the ones who are constantly communicating with the driver about strategy, race pace, and the set up of the car. If the chemistry between the driver and the race engineer is non-existent, it is extremely detrimental to the team. Even small features like Hamilton having to get used to a new wheel in the car may seem trivial but all these little details add up when a tenth of a second is the difference between a good race weekend and a poor weekend.
Although it may seem like Leclerc has the upper hand, the wheel to wheel racing between the two during the season is going to produce fireworks out on track. The two Ferrari drivers will be looking to prove why they are the better pilot and only time will tell who comes out in front.