With just over a week remaining for the 2025 F1 season to kickstart in Australia, the excitement among fans could not be any higher. The drivers too are excited to get right into the competition after three days of pre-season testing, and it seems none are as excited as Ferrari’s Charles Leclerc, who is likely to be one of the contenders for the 2025 title.
Ferrari are expected to be reigning champions McLaren’s closest challengers this season, having finished just 14 points behind the Woking-based outfit last year. And if Ferrari were to pick off where they left off last season, it would give both Leclerc and Lewis Hamilton a brilliant opportunity to fight for the title.
Although the Monegasque would want nothing more, he is wary about setting expectations before a single competitive lap has been run.
Speaking to Sky Sports F1, Leclerc revealed he would wait till the race at the Albert Park Circuit has concluded before setting any targets.
“[I’m] super motivated. Obviously there has been so much work behind the scenes, and we want to try and win [the title]. We’ll see where we stand once we finish our first race,” he explained.
Lewis being all of us getting excited for the start of the season pic.twitter.com/A1Pvvq9O6K
— Sky Sports F1 (@SkySportsF1) March 5, 2025
Ferrari team principal Fred Vasseur also chose not to make too much of the pre-season testing times.
What did pre-season testing tell us about Ferrari?
Speaking about the SF-25, Vasseur admitted that it was good to see their 2025 challenger on track at the Sakhir International Circuit. However, he doesn’t believe he has any concrete data to judge the competitiveness of his package.
“At the end of the day, it was good to be back on track. Now, we all can’t wait to be in Melbourne. But it was very difficult to draw a conclusion in Bahrain with the extreme conditions,” he explained.
AUTO RACER – The Scuderia Ferrari engineers are dedicating themselves to analysing the data produced during testing. Ferrari’s program in Bahrain was not at any time aimed at seeking real performance, except for small targeted flashes.
1/3 pic.twitter.com/b3mmLAQDme
— Junaid #JB17 (@JunaidSamodien_) March 5, 2025
The Bahrain test did play out in uncharacteristically chaotic conditions for all the teams. Thursday running saw the desert witness rain and all throughout the three-day test, the temperatures were very low — something that is unlikely to be the case at the Bahrain GP.
Since it is so difficult to make anything of the pre-season testing times because of the extreme weather conditions, the Australian GP can still produce several surprises. However, Ferrari should be in a strong position in Melbourne, having had a decent testing and also clinched a brilliant 1-2 last season at Albert Park.
