Ferrari have been backed to emerge as the “surprise” package for F1 2025 with Lewis Hamilton gunning for a record eighth title.
That is the prediction made by former Haas F1 team boss turned pundit Guenther Steiner, who believes McLaren will be right there battling Ferrari in the season ahead.
Ferrari to be the ‘surprise’ team of F1 2025?
The off-season is finally nearly over, as for the first time since December, it is race week once again in Formula 1 as the Australian Grand Prix prepares to kick off what could be an all-time classic F1 2025 campaign, with McLaren, Ferrari, Red Bull and Mercedes all setting their sights on title success.
Ferrari go into the season under the spotlight after picking up seven-time World Champion Lewis Hamilton from Mercedes, as he continues his pursuit of that elusive title number eight.
And with the combination of Hamilton’s “motivation”, that of Ferrari principal Fred Vasseur and the path of the team, Steiner has high hopes for the iconic Italian outfit.
Asked by ESPN which of those top four teams he thinks has the biggest potential to surprise in F1 2025, Steiner replied: “Ferrari.”
Pushed to explain, he added: “Because they haven’t won, in a long time, the championship, and I think last year they got the gist what they’re doing.
“And now, obviously, the motivation is there from Fred, from Lewis to get this championship finally, you know. Therefore, I think they can be a surprise.
“They put a lot of effort into that one, and I think Ferrari could surprise us this year.”
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That being said, Steiner is not expecting a Ferrari free-for-all at the head of the grid in F1 2025.
“I think it will be very close in the front,” said Steiner, “because we saw it last year and I think going into this year, it is as close as was the end of last year.
“And if you start a season like this, the whole season will just be a big battle, you know, every point counts.
“And the four best teams, they will be very close together. So I really look forward to that one, you know. And going in there, who is best, I can just guess, but I couldn’t say for certain.”
Steiner would give it a go anyway.
“I’m expecting them [Ferrari] and McLaren to be the fastest cars out there this year,” he stated. “The other ones getting close, but as teams, they are strongest.
“Also driver line-up, because they have got both of them experienced people in, and the other two, Red Bull and Mercedes, they’ve got one rookie in the team [Liam Lawson, Red Bull and Kimi Antonelli, Mercedes].
“So that is normally… I mean, they are rookies, they need to learn. I mean, they can be very good, but they still need to learn. So I think McLaren and Ferrari to be the leaders this year.
“Ferrari last year, end of the season, they made big steps. They got a lot better, and obviously, let’s see what Lewis can bring to the party. But obviously, has got a lot of experience, and if he adapts well to Ferrari, that could help both of them [Hamilton and Charles Leclerc], you know.
“Maybe Lewis winning the eight World Championship… Difficult to do, because he has got a very strong team-mate as well, but the good thing for us is that it will be interesting, you know, there will be nothing boring this year.”
