Ferrari spirals deeper as Hamilton–Leclerc tensions flare – The Azerbaijan Grand Prix has brought Ferrari back down to earth with a painful thud. What began as a hopeful season, with the arrival of seven-time world champion Lewis Hamilton, is quickly descending into another grim chapter of broken promises in Maranello.
Having finished 2024 as the second strongest team after McLaren, Ferrari entered 2025 optimistic that they could finally rejoin the title fight. The prospect of Hamilton joining Charles Leclerc in an assault on McLaren, Mercedes and Red Bull in their iconic red cars was intoxicating for the tifosi. Yet, just five rounds into the season, this dream appears to be slipping away faster than a loose wheel nut during a Scuderia pit stop.
After Baku, Ferrari dropped to third place in the constructors’ standings, behind McLaren and Mercedes. Hamilton and Leclerc both finished in eighth and ninth place respectively, an anonymous result that left Italy’s sports press reaching for their most scathing criticism. Corriere della Sera summed up Ferrari’s plight with biting clarity, describing it as “a continuous disaster” that seems to stalk the once mighty Cavallino like a permanent curse.
The duel that never was
Hamilton and Leclerc’s uneasy partnership has already produced its first public flashpoint. During the latter stages of the Baku race, Leclerc allowed Hamilton to pass due to a tyre offset that gave the Briton a short-lived advantage. The idea, sanctioned by the Ferrari pit wall, was that Hamilton could catch up with Yuki Tsunoda and Lando Norris. In practice, however, he merely joined the DRS queue and never even attempted to overtake.
The real sting came at the chequered flag. Despite being instructed to give up his position, Hamilton kept his nose firmly pointed ahead and crossed the line in eighth place. Leclerc responded with equal parts weariness and sarcasm: “I don’t really care; it’s only eighth place after all. So he can be happy about that. It’s just stupid because it’s not fair.”
Hamilton, for his part, tried to defuse the situation. He admitted that he had lifted off the throttle too late and had simply misjudged the timing, and he promised to apologise to Leclerc.
Yet the damage was done. For the fans who dreamed of harmony between their two superstar drivers, the cracks have already appeared.
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Hamilton’s uneasy honeymoon
The Hamilton–Ferrari partnership was intended to invigorate the Scuderia by injecting the DNA of a proven champion into a team that has often failed to deliver. Instead, the relationship looks awkward, even alien.
In Baku, Hamilton cut a frustrated figure after qualifying outside the top ten and criticising Ferrari’s tyre strategy. It was a telling sign. The Briton is no stranger to voicing dissatisfaction, but at Mercedes he could rely on a well-oiled machine. At Ferrari, however, his complaints risk sounding like echoes in the wind.
For now, Hamilton is not fighting for podiums, but scraps; he is staring at the back of a Yuki Tsunoda in less than dominant Red Bull. This is not the heroic narrative that Italy’s Gazzetta dello Sport had in mind when it printed glossy covers of Hamilton draped in red last winter.
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Is Leclerc still “the chosen one”?
If Hamilton has yet to click with Ferrari, then Leclerc has also failed to deliver the talismanic performances that once made him the Scuderia’s golden boy. In Baku, his qualifying error compounded the team’s troubles, leaving Ferrari unable to compete with the frontrunners.
The Monegasque, once hailed as ‘il predestinato’ or ‘the chosen one’, is starting to resemble a passenger on a sinking ship rather than the man destined to revive Ferrari’s fortunes. His radio comments after the Hamilton affair carried an air of resignation, suggesting not just annoyance with his teammate, but also frustration at the futility of fighting over eighth place.
The Italian press has lost patience
Italian sports dailies have never been known for their subtlety, and Ferrari’s current form has opened the floodgates. The Corriere lamented “continuous disaster”, a sentiment echoed by La Stampa, which accused Ferrari of “betraying the dream once again”.
Tuttosport was even more scathing, mocking the Scuderia for failing to capitalise on the supposed Hamilton boost and declaring the team “not a threat, but an embarrassment”.
These papers understand their audience. In a country where Ferrari is not just a racing team, but a cultural symbol, mediocrity is worse than outright failure. Finishing ninth in a race where McLaren and Mercedes dominated is an insult to the passion of the tifosi who live and breathe red.
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Is it a curse, or just bad planning?
It is tempting to attribute Ferrari’s woes to curses, ill fortune or the ghost of Enzo shaking his head from above. However, the reality lies in a combination of design missteps, strategic errors, and the intense pressure of expectation.
Despite pre-season whispers of innovation, the 2025 Ferrari chassis lacks the consistency to threaten over a full race distance. On high-speed straights, the car struggles to be efficient. In tight corners, tyre degradation leaves it vulnerable. It is not a machine capable of competing with McLaren’s rising dominance, Red Bull’s occasional brilliance or Mercedes’ consistent performance.
Ferrari finds itself in a purgatory of its own making. It is not slow enough to warrant a reset, nor is it fast enough to contend. In that middle ground, reputations erode. Vibrant red has become a dull mediocre beige.
Picture the Ferrari garage in Baku. Mechanics polish helmets and strategists shuffle papers while Lewis Hamilton is reassured that his mission to eighth place is a noble one. Meanwhile, across the garage, Charles Leclerc shrugs and mutters that his life’s purpose has been reduced to a squabble over who can claim to have been slightly less irrelevant on Sunday.
No Man’s Land now has a postcode, and Ferrari has registered both its star drivers as permanent residents. If Formula 1 gave out loyalty cards for finishing between seventh and tenth place, Maranello would already have a free coffee and a half-price sandwich.
One can imagine Enzo Ferrari turning in his grave, not at the sight of failure, but at the pettiness of squabbling over scraps. If Ferrari cannot even organise a gentlemanly exchange of eighth place, how on earth will they organise a title challenge?
Looking ahead, can the spiral be stopped?
The jury is still out on whether the team can summon the upgrades required to claw back some ground and save some face in this latter stage of the 2025 F1 season.
Yet optimism is in short supply. Hamilton seems like an impatient guest at a party that he expected to be a coronation. Meanwhile, Leclerc looks more like a man trapped in a recurring nightmare. The tifosi are growing restless. Meanwhile, the Italian press has rediscovered its taste for ridicule.
Unless Ferrari can combine speed and harmony, 2025 may already be slipping into the familiar narrative of hope, despair and mockery. It’s a cycle as red as the cars themselves.
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After months of speculation, negotiations and behind-the-scenes manoeuvring, the saga surrounding Christian Horner’s future with Red Bull Racing has finally come to a conclusion. After months of speculation, negotiations and behind-the-scenes manoeuvring, the Austrian drinks giant and its former team principal have agreed terms for an immediate parting of ways. This brings an end to Horner’s two-decade tenure at the helm of the team, during which he delivered an era of extraordinary success.
According to reports in the British press, the separation has not come cheaply. Horner’s contract, which was due to end in 2030, has been terminated early following a settlement reportedly worth tens of millions of euros. The Times puts the figure at an astonishing €90 million, and the Daily Mail reports that lawyers for both parties spent weeks negotiating to ensure that Red Bull would not remain liable for the full projected salary…READ MORE ON THIS STORY
Alex Stanton is a Formula 1 journalist at TJ13 with a focus on the financial and commercial dynamics that underpin the sport. Alex contributes reporting and analysis on team ownership structures, sponsorship trends, and the evolving business model of Formula 1.
At TJ13, Alex covers topics including manufacturer investment, cost cap implications, and the strategic direction of teams navigating an increasingly complex financial environment. Alex’s work often examines how commercial decisions translate into on-track performance and long-term competitiveness.
With a strong interest in the intersection of sport and business, Alex provides context around Formula 1’s global growth, including media rights, expansion markets, and manufacturer influence.
Alex’s reporting aims to explain the financial realities behind headline stories, helping readers understand how money, governance, and strategy shape the competitive order in Formula 1.
The words “Il Predestinato” in Italian mean “The Predestined”.
“The Chosen One” translated into Italian is “Il Prescelto”.
It’s all a load of Bollocks BULL 💩