Charles Leclerc found himself behind the wheel of the SF-25 for the first time yesterday as Ferrari completed their first filming day ahead of the F1 pre-season testing in Bahrain. After the Italian marque unveiled their official livery at the F1 75 season launch event on February 18, they conducted their customary shakedown at the Fiorano Circuit on Wednesday.
Leclerc and Ferrari’s newest recruit, Lewis Hamilton, each covered 100 kilometres as per F1’s filming day regulations. It was the Monégasque driver who got the first taste of the SF-25 before handing the car over to the seven-time world champion in the afternoon.
In a conversation with Sky Sport F1’s Ted Kravitz, Leclerc shared his opinions on the SF-25 after his first day driving the Ferrari 2025 challenger. He also talked about the front suspension change and whether he has a similar driving style to Hamilton. Moreover, he commented on what his expectations are heading into the first race of the season in Melbourne and what approach they seek to follow in order to achieve their goals in 2025.
First sentiments after driving the SF-25
In terms of what his feelings were after giving their 2025 F1 car its first run, Leclerc revealed that his first impression of the SF-25 was positive. Nonetheless, he added that their primary objective was to debug the car and identify any element that defied their expectations, both positive and negative.
While Leclerc refused to divulge the details, he confirmed that there were no exceptionally unfavourable findings and the team was thoroughly satisfied with the outcome of the shakedown.
“Well, it felt good. I mean, the scope of a first day like this is really to debug the car a little and to understand whether there’s anything that is outstanding, either negative or positive.
“When it’s positive, we don’t mind, but we still want to understand what we did not expect. When it’s negative, it’s a bit more for worry. And it’s a good day because there was nothing outstandingly negative.
“So this is very good and this is what we are always searching for. So it’s a good first day, but apart from that, [it’s] difficult to go into the details.”
Thoughts on the new front suspension and additional changes
After narrowly missing out on the constructors’ championship in 2024, Ferrari have switched to a pull-rod front suspension ahead of what they expect to be a very closely contested season.
When asked whether he could feel the transition from push-rod to pull-rod while driving yesterday, Leclerc responded that one can only detect such variations while pushing the car to its limit.
Stating that the SF-23 had some inherent flaws that they had to grapple with over the course of the season, Leclerc elaborated that the traits of the SF-24 were good enough for Ferrari to build on and finish their F1 campaign on a stronger note in comparison to previous years.
With regard to the goal they had set, the 27-year-old revealed that Ferrari opted to introduce small but impactful changes to every aspect of the car in order to make crucial performance gains. Reiterating that the SF-24 served as an excellent starting point, Leclerc remarked that they can only comprehend the effectiveness of the changes when the SF-25 hits the track during pre-season testing next week.
“I think you really need to push the car to its limit to start and feel the differences.
“On the contrary, in 2023, there were definitely characteristics of the car that we really wanted to change because there were issues to tackle.
“In 2024, I think it was very different. We ended the year very strongly; the characteristics of the car were in a good place.
“We just needed to be faster and to improve a little bit every characteristic of the car, which eventually was a goal for the team.
“For now, it seems that it’s going in the right direction. But we’ve got to really push the car to feel the little changes that have been made.”
Similar driving style to Hamilton
After four years of sharing the track with Carlos Sainz, Leclerc has once again found himself partnering with a multi-time world champion at Ferrari ahead of their 2025 F1 campaign.
Whilst admitting that differences in track conditions have made it difficult so far to precisely compare his driving style to Hamilton’s, the eight-time race winner sounded fairly confident that they have similar preferences. Furthermore, he added that this similarity would enable the team to push forward in the same direction with regard to development without having to compromise the needs of a specific driver.
“My first feeling is that we do. As much as it’s difficult to do a comparison for now because we’ve always driven in different conditions and at the same time of the day, different tracks.
“So it’s very tricky, but I feel like we have a very similar driving style, which is a really good thing for the team because that probably means we’ll be pushing in the same direction and that will require the same thing about the car.
“Yeah, exactly. I mean, to all push in the same direction [for development] is very important. So if we have the same driving style and that is confirmed during testing, then that would be super good.”
Expectations from the Australian GP and approach during the 2025 season
The Australian GP will return to its traditional position as the first race of the F1 calendar this season. Following a change in schedule to avoid a clash with the holy month of Ramadan, Albert Park will host the season opener instead of Bahrain for the first time since 2019.
In terms of whether Ferrari expect to find themselves in an advantageous position in Melbourne after their 1-2 finish last year, Leclerc admitted that standing on the top two steps of the podium would be the ideal outcome. Nevertheless, he expressed caution that it would be prudent to temper their expectations regardless of the results and push forward one race at a time.
Speaking highly of this mentality, the 27-year-old commented that this approach had served them well in 2024 and that he is intent on following it irrespective of where they end up in the pecking order. Additionally, Leclerc proclaimed that by focusing on themselves and capitalising on every opportunity, Ferrari can achieve their goal of becoming F1 world champions again with the SF-25 this season.
“I mean, I would love to start the season with a 1-2. That would be amazing and that’s definitely the target.
“But then Melbourne is also a very specific track. So, whatever happens there, we shouldn’t get carried away too much and start to think about where we are going to end up at the end of the year. We really need to take it race by race, focus on ourselves.
“We’ve done a really good job with this mentality in 2024, and I want to reproduce that no matter where we are fighting. We just need to stay calm, focus on ourselves, and then things will come if we do the job right.”
