Leclerc is 'obviously quicker' than Hamilton in 2025 - Marko

      The excitement surrounding Lewis Hamilton's transfer to Ferrari is not expected to lead to a world championship, according to Red Bull advisor Dr. Helmut Marko, who believes McLaren is the frontrunner as they head into Melbourne, with Red Bull closely behind. "Ferrari, based on our evaluations, is the third strongest team, slightly ahead of Mercedes," the Austrian stated to RTL. "In Bahrain, (Charles) Leclerc demonstrated he was significantly quicker than Hamilton, but that's to be expected," Marko clarified. "Leclerc is familiar with the team and the car. Hamilton put in a lot of laps and progressively improved, but he still wasn't at Leclerc's standard. However, it's still early in the season. We know Hamilton has the ability to improve drastically, but if conditions don’t align and he sees no viable path to victory, his motivation might wane somewhat."

      Ferrari team principal Frederic Vasseur acknowledged during the Milan street event on Thursday that the new 2025 car is "two or three tenths" behind McLaren's top pace. "They are in a stronger position than we are," he said. "This is the final year of the current regulations, and making performance improvements is becoming increasingly challenging. While it's true that we recorded the most points in the last eight races of 2024, McLaren had a genuine performance advantage that they didn’t capitalize on as well as they could have due to minor issues or missed opportunities. If we can close that gap of two to three tenths, we will have every opportunity to compete."

      Ralf Schumacher, on the other hand, believes that comparing his brother's arrival at Ferrari in 1996 to Hamilton's debut in red is misguided. "When Michael joined Ferrari, he was not only the reigning world champion but also widely considered the best driver. Lewis doesn't possess either of those distinctions anymore," Ralf told Sky Deutschland. "Still, Michael needed five challenging years to secure his first title with Ferrari. Lewis doesn’t have that luxury." Schumacher also thinks the capricious Italian media will only afford Hamilton six months to acclimate. "If results aren’t satisfactory by then, all this enthusiasm will quickly turn into criticism," the German remarked.

      Regarding Leclerc, Vasseur believes there is no risk that the pressure will become excessively heavy on the 27-year-old this season. "From the very beginning, I was convinced that Charles would benefit from Lewis's arrival," the Frenchman stated. "Perhaps it will alleviate some pressure off him, allowing him to concentrate more on his own performance." Schumacher also concurs with those who speculate that McLaren may soon challenge Red Bull and Max Verstappen in 2025. "Pierre Wache is not Adrian Newey," he asserted. "Max will have to come to terms with the fact that everything has an end. I don’t see him having a chance this season, not at all. It might help him in deciding his future, but regardless, it will be a tough choice."