Ferrari will be a threat to McLaren for the World Championship in the second half of the 2025 season, according to team principal Andrea Stella. The Scuderia enjoyed one of their strongest weekends of the season, pace-wise, at the British Grand Prix. While the Italian constructor went into the weekend’s race ahead of both Mercedes and Red Bull in the standings, neither of their drivers has been to the top step of the podium.
Max Verstappen and George Russell, meanwhile, have been regular threats to the McLaren duo, who are battling for the Drivers’ Championship crown. However, Ferrari showed immense pace from the outset at Silverstone. Nine-time British GP winner Lewis Hamilton looked like a threat for pole position throughout the free practice sessions, and the Brit was heading for the front row in Q3 before making a mistake at Club corner. Charles Leclerc suffered a similar fate.
The team’s strong pace has McLaren worried. “Definitely I have to say that looking at the lap times that Ferrari have been able to pull off in every single session, Ferrari seem to be the strongest team, probably they still are the strongest team,” Stella said after qualifying.
“The gaps are very small, and Max also went out for the final lap in Q3 relatively a few minutes later or a minute later, and here there could be a slight variation of wind that can affect one-tenth here and there, so everything is very tight.
“Difficult to say which one was the strongest team, but Ferrari definitely appeared like the most competitive. Even if we look at Q2, I think they were P1, P2 quite convincingly at the time.
“So it looks like the upgrades that they have taken to Austria seem to have worked very well which makes not only the Silverstone Grand Prix interesting because of how tight the situation is at the front of the grid, but I would say also interesting for the reminder of the championship, especially with Ferrari.”