Revisited: Ferrari from another planet during F1 pre-season testing

Ferrari has been at the centre of a busy F1 winter break, partly due to the arrival of seven-time world champion Lewis Hamilton. 

The Maranello-based team has been hard at work on its car for the 2025 season, the SF-25. It is one which a great deal is expected from, starting next week in Bahrain at pre-season testing. 

However, Ferrari has recent memories of stunning the paddock at testing, before struggling when the racing actual begun.

"I can still remember 2019, my first year at Ferrari, and that I was so confident then after the winter test because all that went well," Leclerc told select media including RacingNews365, during the launch of its 2025 car. 

"But then I was so disappointed after the first race that I promised myself not to have any expectations in the future."

Leclerc was promoted from Sauber to Ferrari for the 2019 season, where he partnered four-time world champion Sebastian Vettel. 

That year, Ferrari were exceptional in pre-season testing at the home of the Spanish Grand Prix, even leaving Mercedes scratching its head. 

Vettel's fastest time – a 1:16.221 on the softest tyre  – was only three thousandths faster than Lewis Hamilton on the same compound; however, it was Vettel's lap time on the C3 tyre which stunned the Silver Arrows.

Earlier in the day, Vettel recorded a 1:16.720 on the C3 compound, which was only one-tenth slower than Hamilton on the softer C4 tyre. 

External calculations showed that Vettel could have been even a second faster when fuel and tyre wear were taken into account. Ferrari's lead would then be as much as half a second, an eternity in F1.

The reality check, however, came quickly after testing. During testing, it is often stated that lap times are irrelevant to a certain extent, as proven in 2019.

Ferrari was bombarded everywhere as the favourite, but was a staggering seven tenths behind Mercedes in qualifying during the opening round in Australia.

Vettel had to settle for third in qualifying but failed to convert it into a podium the following day. Max Verstappen passed him and gave Red Bull-Honda equal success.

For Ferrari, the grapes were sour. Mercedes had secretly fooled everyone during the winter test, although the Maranello-based tea, did win several races later in the season. 

However, the Scuderia took advantage of an engine trick, became part of a major scandal and would fall very far back in 2020. 

To this day, Ferrari has yet to capture a title since 2008. Perhaps in 2025 it will hit the ground running with Leclerc and Hamilton.