Ferrari Chief Reveals 2025 'Risk' Ahead Of Lewis Hamilton Onboarding

Saajan Jogia | Dec 22, 2024

Charles Leclerc wins the Italian Grand Prix. / Ferrari

Ferrari team principal Fred Vasseur explained that Ferrari's 2025 title challenger will be entirely new, with less than one percent of parts being carried over from this year's SF-24 F1 car. Despite 2026 marking the beginning of a new era in Formula 1 where cars will be different from the current contenders of the ground effect era, Ferrari has taken a brave risk to maximize its chances next season, which also marks the arrival of Lewis Hamilton into the team.

2024 saw Ferrari make significant leaps from the previous year, courtesy of a much faster car that the team was able to design and develop. Though it suffered a hiccup early in the season after an incorrect upgrade compromised the SF-24's handling and pace, the car's pace post-summer break helped cover up significant ground in the Constructors' Championship.

The Maranello outfit comfortably overtook Red Bull to secure second place in the championship standings after the race in Austin. However, it fell just 14 points short of McLaren in the Abu Dhabi season finale, narrowly missing out on the championship title. As a result, the team appears to have a bold strategy for 2025, centered around an entirely new car design. Speaking to the media, Vasseur said:

“If it will be competitive, we’ll find out in Bahrain.

“Sometimes you don’t realise you’re taking risks until afterward.

“The car will be completely new; I think we’ll have less than 1 per cent of the parts in common with the 2024 car.

“It’s a different project, but the same applies to everyone.”

Vasseur praised his team's consistent form this season, but can't say for sure if 2025 would be Ferrari's year. He added:

“We can’t say now if 2025 will be our year, but I trust the project we’re working on.

“It will still be an intense challenge like the one we just completed.

“I am very proud of how we tackled difficulties this year, but we must take another step toward consistency.”

Speaking on the seven-time world champion's onboarding, Vasseur revealed Hamilton's first outing in a Ferrari F1 car will be emotional considering it was his long-time dream to race for Ferrari. Speaking on the plan until the pre-season test in Bahrain, the team boss said:

“We are dependent on the weather, it’s not easy in January.

“It’s true that it’s quite emotional because I think he has this moment in his mind for probably 20 years.

“That means it will be emotional – but it has to be emotional for one lap and then to be focused!

“We will have the first test days with TPC [Testing Of Previous Cars] and Pirelli and then the launch of the championship first on the 18th [of February], then the launch of the car on the 19th and then we will go directly to Bahrain and it will be a tough sequence until Melbourne.

“But it’s true that it’s a short preparation because we have something like four weeks at the factory before the first event, but it is like it is.”