With the 2025 Formula 1 season reaching its critical summer stretch, Ferrari has suddenly thrown a wrench into the title fight thanks to a game-changing upgrade package, leaving even championship leaders McLaren wary about how the second half of the year could unfold.
As both Lewis Hamilton and Charles Leclerc showed front-running pace at Silverstone before ultimately missing out in Q3, McLaren team principal Andrea Stella made no secret of the fact that the Scuderia’s new performance could turn the rest of the campaign on its head.
Ferrari Upgrades Make Their Mark
Throughout the British Grand Prix weekend, Ferrari’s presence was unmistakable. Hamilton and Leclerc led multiple sessions, their SF-25s benefiting from a newly introduced floor and aerodynamic updates that first appeared in Austria. While McLaren still boasts the overall points lead, Stella was quick to recognise the growing threat coming from Maranello.
“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 admitted, as he weighed the balance of power at Silverstone.
“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 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.”
While Max Verstappen ultimately delivered another last-gasp pole for Red Bull, Stella’s attention remained fixed on Ferrari’s consistent pace.
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“Even if we look at Q2 I think they were P1, P2 quite convincingly at the time,” Stella went on, “so it looks like the upgrades that they have taken to Austria seem to have worked very well, which makes the Silverstone grand prix not only 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.”
Red Bull and Verstappen Still Loom Large
Despite Ferrari’s leap, Stella cautioned against overlooking the old adversary in Red Bull and the ever-determined Verstappen, whose pole position lap was another reminder of why he remains such a force in F1.
“The reason why we never rule out Max is because he is Max Verstappen, and it would be extremely naive to think that Max is not in the game,” Stella added “I think he gave another bit of evidence today of how quick he is, how capable he is of maximising the potential that he has available.”
Stella pointed out that Silverstone’s high-speed layout also plays to Red Bull’s strengths: “We also know that in these kind of tracks where we have high-speed, smooth circuits, Red Bull can do very well, so no surprise with Max, no surprise with Red Bull.”
A Tighter Title Race on the Horizon
If Ferrari can maintain this performance, the rest of the 2025 championship could be far closer than McLaren’s early points advantage suggests.
Last season, the Papaya team fended off a strong late charge from Maranello to secure the constructors’ title, even as Verstappen dominated the drivers’ standings. Now, with both Ferrari and Red Bull showing signs of a resurgence, Stella believes the fight is far from over.
“It looks like a deserved pole position and it looks like Max, based on the lap times he could do on Friday that were competitive in high fuel, is a very serious candidate to win the British Grand Prix,” Stella concluded.
With McLaren, Ferrari, and Red Bull all capable of fighting at the front, fans can expect every race from now to Abu Dhabi to carry major championship implications. As the grid prepares for the race at Silverstone, the only certainty is that the battle for supremacy is back on in earnest.
