Alexandre
The rivalry between Ferrari and McLaren that we saw during the 2024 season of Formula 1 will continue in 2025. At the presentation of the Ferrari SF-25, Frédéric Vasseur, the team's managing director, has made it clear that the ambition for the 2025 season must be to win the two world titles. And for this quest, McLaren must be beaten.
In 2024, the Scuderia Ferrari won five races, ending the season on a positive note, but failed to catch up with McLaren, finishing just 14 points behind them in the constructors' championship. However, this encouraging end to the season masked a technical gap that needs to be closed by 2025. The good news is that Ferrari seems to have the foundations to shine in 2025 with the many new features of the SF-25But that doesn't mean she's starting the year as a favorite.
McLaren, the team to beat
Frédéric Vasseur stressed that McLaren should not be underestimated Those who say we're the favourites are forgetting McLaren. McLaren is in a better position than we are." He thus recalled that Ferrari and McLaren are starting from different positions with a view to the 2025 season. "We're entering the final year of this technical and regulatory cycle, and finding performance gains is becoming increasingly difficult," he explained. Although Ferrari collected more points than McLaren in the last eight races of 2024, the British team suffered from some minor incidents and problems, without being able to fully exploit the performance advantage it possessed.
To catch up with McLaren, Ferrari needs to close a gap of 2 to 3 tenths on its rival. Vasseur said, "We need to improve by 2-3 tenths more than McLaren, and if we can do that, nothing will be impossible for us." This challenge, far from easy, will be crucial from the first races of the 2025 season. Ferrari and McLaren have already announced that they are planning major developments for this period, but the question remains as to how long they will be able to exploit this cycle to the full. before turning to the technical revolution of 2026.
2025, a high-pressure season
The scenario is further complicated by the technical regulations on wing flexibility, which will come into force as early as the Spanish Grand Prix, after eight races. This will not facilitate performance gains for Ferrari, which, according to Vasseur, will struggle to find significant improvements throughout the year, compared to what the other teams will achieve in the first Grands Prix. It's clear that Ferrari will have to concentrate on the 2025 season, while already thinking about the 2026 era, without neglecting its title ambitions this year.