Asked if he could begin to dream of a first Ferrari pole, Hamilton conceded: “For me, I think it’s a little bit early as I just continue to get to learn the car, but never say never. I’ll still give it everything I’ve got tomorrow.

“I’m just not putting too much pressure on. I’m going to try to enjoy it. I’ve got some pace to find. I know where to find it. It’s just about going out there and doing it and just building.”

With only a day and a half of running in the 2025 Ferrari before taking to the track in Australia, Hamilton is yet to get fully up to speed with his new surroundings.

He said: “P1 was a little bit messy. P2 was definitely starting to look a little bit better.

“Also, I’m still getting used to all of the setup changes. I don’t have them on call like I used to have with Mercedes.

“Where I’d been there so long, I knew exactly all the setup changes, so I’m still working through understanding what tools we can use, and it’s interesting you can see with Charles, he just knows because he’s been here for such a long time.”

The battle at the front is expected to be fierce this year, with Red Bull, Mercedes, McLaren and Ferrari all predicted to be in the hunt for wins, podiums and pole positions.

With so many potential rivals, Leclerc refused to stake an early claim to the foremost grid slot.

“I want to be cautious; let’s wait and see,” he said. “But it’s right to say that after a day like this, we are looking forward to tomorrow and we want to target pole position.”

Asked if McLaren posed the only threat to Ferrari this weekend, Leclerc added: “For now, it is too early to say. I don’t think we’ve seen the real pace of everybody yet and I think some teams might hide their game a bit more than others.

"But for sure, McLaren is up there. I think Red Bull might be struggling a little bit more for now, but you never know with them, and especially with Max, you can never rule them out. For sure, they will be in the fight.

“Mercedes look strong as well, so it is going to be a good fight, I’m sure.”

Source: Formula1 

Red Bull's Max Verstappen appears to have his work cut out to seal a fifth straight title, with Lando Norris poised to knock the Dutchman off his perch. Hamilton's move from Mercedes to Ferrari is just one of numerous intriguing subplots in a season that gets underway in Australia on Sunday, with six rookies gracing the grid.

Here's a look at five talking points before lights go out in Melbourne.

Can Max make it five?

Seventy-five years after Giuseppe Farina claimed the first F1 world championship at the wheel of an Alfa Romeo, Verstappen embarks on the 2025 season in pursuit of a fifth successive title, a feat only achieved once before, by Michael Schumacher. If he succeeds, it will cement the Dutchman's place as a titan of the sport. He hoovered up seven of the first 10 races in his rampaging Red Bull last year, before a 10-race winless run, as McLaren, Mercedes and Ferrari ran riot. But, Verstappen had the last word, fighting back to win in Brazil and clinch title No 4 in Las Vegas with two races to spare.

McLaren prised the constructors' championship away from Red Bull to seal its long road back to the F1 summit. The tough task facing Verstappen is underlined by the betting, which has him as only second favorite behind Norris (who ended 2024 63 points adrift of the Dutchman) for the 2025 crown, with Ferrari duo Charles Leclerc and Hamilton leading the rest of the pack.

Rookie class of 2025

An Italian teenager who only passed his driving test in January is among the six-strong cohort of rookies for the 2025 season. Kimi Antonelli, an exciting 18-year-old who uses a nickname derived from his uncle's love for Ferrari's last world champion, Finn Kimi Raikkonen, takes Hamilton's seat alongside George Russell at Mercedes.

"I really want to make my own story "insists last year's multiple Formula 2 winner, brushing off suggestions he is the seven-time world champion's "replacement" at the Silver Arrows. Kiwi Liam Lawson, a 'veteran' of 11 Grands Prix already, makes his fully fledged debut as Verstappen's new wingman at Red Bull. Ferrari's British academy driver Ollie Bearman was thrown into the F1 deep end when he was called up as a last minute replacement for appendicitis victim Carlos Sainz at the Saudi Grand Prix last year, becoming the youngest ever driver to compete for the Scuderia. He seized his chance, holding off Hamilton and Norris to finish seventh. He joins Ferrari-powered Haas.

Brazil has a presence on the grid for the first time in five years in F2 champion Gabriel Bortoleto at Sauber. Aussie Jack Doohan will be hoping to enjoy even a small slice of his MotoGP star dad Mick's success on two-wheels, as he graduates from reserve driver to become Pierre Gasly's teammate at Alpine. Last, but not least, is Racing Bulls' Isack Hadjar, the 20-year-old Algerian-French who narrowly missed out to Bortoleto for the F2 title.

FIA vs the drivers

In the volatile, high-octane bubble that is F1, one thing seems assured in 2025: renewed tension between the governing body and the drivers. Notably over the FIA's crack down on swearing. Verstappen and Leclerc fell foul of the rules in 2024 for turning the air blue at news conferences. The guidelines were strengthened in January, triggering an indignant response from drivers, who took a swipe at FIA president Mohammed Ben Sulayem.

"We urge the FIA president to also consider his own tone and language when talking to our member drivers, or indeed about them, whether in a public forum or otherwise," they wrote, adding: "As adults, they do not need to be given instructions, via the media, about matters as trivial as the wearing of jewelry or underpants."

From Australia to Abu Dhabi

Australia hosts the first of the 24 races this weekend, with Bahrain moved to April as Ramadan runs throughout March. The six sprints of the 2025 season are in Shanghai, Miami, Spa-Francorchamps, Austin, Sao Paulo and Doha. The FIA, in a bid to liven up the jewel in the calendar — Monaco — where overtaking is nigh-on impossible, is imposing a mandatory two-pit stop strategy for the teams. With the traditional three-week summer break in August, the F1 circus pitches up in Abu Dhabi for its final show on Dec 7. "This will be a special year as we celebrate the 75th Anniversary of the FIA Formula One World Championship, and it's that legacy and experience that allows us to deliver such a strong calendar," said F1 CEO Stefano Domenicali.

Testing times

Even celebrated codebreaker Alan Turing would have a hard job deciphering the times from three days of preseason testing in Bahrain last month. With fuel loads unknown, and team setups kept under wraps, it was hard, if not impossible, to pinpoint the winners and losers.

Russell's Mercedes was top of the pile on the last day, with Sainz's Williams topping the times on the middle day and Norris' McLaren taking the first day honors.

Ferrari was bang in the thick of it, and Verstappen will have been pleased with his final-day showing.

One thing seems certain — the bulk of the teams look closely matched, prompting McLaren Racing CEO Zak Brown to predict: "I can see it being super competitive. Last year four teams won multiple races, this year, I could see that being even more. I'm more excited than nervous."

China Daily/AFP  Updated: 2025-03-12 09:32

Next year will be the dawn of a new engine era, coupled with significant chassis regulation changes, in a major shake-up that could send tremors through the paddock pecking order.

All teams, from top to bottom, have to decide at what point this season they cease to upgrade their cars and focus fully on 2026.

For teams like Williams, ninth out of 10 in 2024, that means switching far sooner than title-chasing rivals to give themselves the best chance of a big leap.

"I've been very clear from the beginning that 2026 is the year I want to make sure we put focus onto and that will have an effect on 2025," said Williams principal James Vowles at last month's car launch.

"My head is clear. It's about the future of this organization. The bias is very much towards 2026. The second of January, which was the first legal date, our 2026 car was in the wind tunnel."

Williams were fastest in last week's Bahrain testing, with new arrival Carlos Sainz, and their overall package had rivals suggesting they could be top five contenders.

Vowles played that down, having already warned Sainz and teammate Alex Albon to expect a tough year with the rewards to be reaped in seasons to come.

Midfield rivals will also be looking to bank points early in the season before turning off development.

"There are areas of our business that are already 100 percent focused on 2026, so concept engineering groups are just focused on 2026 because 2025's done from their perspective," said Aston Martin boss Andy Cowell.

"As we go through the year, every single department will do that transition from partially on 2025 to fully on to 2026," added the Briton, who had top designer Adrian Newey starting on Monday.

Alpine's Oliver Oakes said it would be a balancing act for the Renault-owned team but "I think we're going to see that, especially after the first few races, it's pretty evident where your attention needs to be."

Those at the front and chasing championships will take a different approach.

Andrea Stella, boss of champions McLaren whose car already looks the one to beat and whose drivers Lando Norris and Oscar Piastri will be chasing both titles, said his team would be introducing upgrades early in the season at least.

Ferrari's Fred Vasseur, now with seven-times world champion Lewis Hamilton on board, said the situation would be assessed after the first four or five races.

"Even if you have a plan, even if you decide now that we do like this, like this, like this, let’s see after a couple of races into the championship where you are," he told reporters.

"If you are one second behind, it makes no sense to continue to develop. If you are one second in front, you can be focused a little bit on 2026, but I think these two scenarios are not realistic at all.

"I think it will be the continuity of last year with four teams able to win races, able to win the championship, and it will be a good fight."

Mercedes driver George Russell agreed. "I think why it is going to be so interesting is whoever continues to develop will probably win the championship but you'll pay the price in 2026," he said.

Source: China Daily/Reuters   Published: 17:21, March 4, 2025