"No number one" between Leclerc and Hamilton in 2025, assures Vasseur

In less than a week now, Lewis Hamilton will officially become a Ferrari driver. The seven-time world champion joins the Italian team in what is considered the transfer of the century in Formula 1. And inevitably, the arrival of a driver of such caliber – even in the most prestigious of teams – requires a certain internal organization and is accompanied by various questions. One of them is already burning our lips: who of Charles Leclerc or Lewis Hamilton will have priority and become the number 1 driver at Maranello ?

A question quickly dismissed by Frédéric Vasseur. The director of the Scuderia does not want to change the philosophy applied during his last seasons at Ferrari, with a Charles Leclerc and a Carlos Sainz put on an equal footing. "I think we made a good demonstration of not having a number one this year and last year. I'm very happy with the job that [Leclerc and Sainz] have done, underlines the French leader in an interview given to Canal+. There were some heated moments but we never lost points or had any collisions. Their emulation was really key to our performance. The desire to push your teammate, to go for the last thousandth of a second on every lap of every session, that was key for us and for the team's overall performance. That's why I don't want to change anything."

Even if he does not want to establish a hierarchy between his two drivers, Frédéric Vasseur recognizes that Charles Leclerc will have the task of helping Lewis Hamilton to integrate into the Ferrari environment during the first weeks before the first Grand Prix of the season, in Australia (March 16). "[Charles Leclerc] was already fully committed to the project last year. He's the one who will ensure the transition with Lewis [Hamilton], the first tests on the simulator, the discovery of the car, he will be our reference compared to last year, where Lewis (...) will not have the experience of what we did last year, recalls the boss of the Scuderia. Charles will have a slightly different role over the next two months, but he is used to it and he will handle it well. It will happen very quickly because in a month, we will already be on track.

The arrival of Lewis Hamilton is obviously highly anticipated in Italy, which hopes to vibrate with the British star in 2025. Ferrari is also welcoming its first new driver since 2021: a way to get out of the routine and find new motivation? “Motivation is never a problem, answers Frédéric Vasseur. It's true that there's a bit of fatigue in the last races of the year (...) but it'll recharge very quickly. We'll start riding in a month, the first tests in Bahrain in two months. It'll be like the first day at school: we'll have our brand new schoolbag, our brand new driver, and we'll be full of enthusiasm and determination." There will be no shortage of enthusiasm among the tifosi when Lewis Hamilton makes his first outing in a red suit during private tests at Fiorano in January.

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