There is little doubt around Ferrari’s potential for next season, given its resurgent form in 2024. The Italian team ended up only 14 points adrift of McLaren, who took home the Constructors’ championship. So, heading into 2025, there are high expectations that Ferrari will fight for both world championships. And if so, Lewis Hamilton and Charles Leclerc are bound to develop an intra-team rivalry.
Red Bull advisor Helmut Marko feels that Hamilton could get the better of the Monegasque driver, owing to the ton of experience he possesses. “If he has a car capable of winning, his brilliance and world championship quality will come out again,” the 81-year-old said in an interview with Sport1.de.
Marko still feels that Leclerc could have the edge over his veteran teammate in qualifying. However, that gap needs to be considerately big so that Hamilton does not make a comeback in the race.
The 2024 season saw the #44 driver struggle a lot in qualifying, but more often than not, he mounted a charge through the field to maximize his result. If Ferrari can provide Hamilton with a race-winning car, the Briton is not a driver who would drop the ball.
Hamilton ⚔️ Leclerc
Cette bataille entre les futurs coéquipiers #QatarGP #F1 pic.twitter.com/klrt7TEo3H
— CANAL+ F1® (@CanalplusF1) November 30, 2024
After all, he is jumping ship to the Maranello outfit and leaving his beloved Mercedes team to chase more glory in F1. So, he would like to put behind the struggles he faced in the past three seasons with the Silver Arrows while focusing on fighting for his record eighth championship with the Prancing Horse.
How Hamilton showed signs of unfinished business in 2024
The seven-time world champion was rather miserable for most of the 2024 season. Mercedes’ struggles with its car concept just did not find any resolution and Hamilton was bearing the brunt of it in qualifying. George Russell dominated the 39-year-old in Grand Prix qualifying, beating him 17-5.
However, Hamilton always had the pace and determination to fight back in the race. There have been many races where the Briton had to bow out of Q1 or Q2 and still went on to finish just behind Russell or even ahead of the 26-year-old.
In Las Vegas, Hamilton had qualified only 10th despite having a car good enough for pole. While Russell was on pole, the #44 driver had to make his way through the field and did so to finish second eventually.
A 14 second gap? Light work for Lewis…
Toto knows EXACTLY what Hamilton is capable of after over a decade working together #F1 #AbuDhabiGP pic.twitter.com/BdrdUVyM3n
— Formula 1 (@F1) December 10, 2024
The season-ending Abu Dhabi GP was also a classic case in point. Hamilton suffered a Q1 elimination in his final qualifying for Mercedes, ending up P18. Starting the race from 16th — due to grid penalties — he climbed back to fourth and even overtook Russell on the final lap.
This performance by Hamilton earned a lot of plaudits and reflected that he could still pull off such miraculous results and just needs a quick car underneath. Hopefully, Ferrari can deliver on the promise with which they successfully lured him away from Mercedes.
